Mayors Support "Parent Tricker" Law
Dear Deborah,
On June 18, the U.S. Conference of Mayors unanimously endorsed "parent trigger" laws that would let parents "seize control of low-performing public schools and fire the teachers, oust the administrators, or turn the schools over to private management." I call it the "parent tricker" law for reasons I explain below.
Let's be clear what the so-called parent trigger means. If 51 percent of the parents in a public school sign a petition, they can take control of the school, fire the staff, and hand the school over to a private corporation run by themselves or someone else.
Parent trigger laws are an invitation, as economist Bruce Baker put it, to mob rule.
I wonder how the mayors would react to a similar proposal to allow citizens to seize control of the public housing projects they live in or their local firehouse or police station, if they are dissatisfied with them. Perhaps they
On June 18, the U.S. Conference of Mayors unanimously endorsed "parent trigger" laws that would let parents "seize control of low-performing public schools and fire the teachers, oust the administrators, or turn the schools over to private management." I call it the "parent tricker" law for reasons I explain below.
Let's be clear what the so-called parent trigger means. If 51 percent of the parents in a public school sign a petition, they can take control of the school, fire the staff, and hand the school over to a private corporation run by themselves or someone else.
Parent trigger laws are an invitation, as economist Bruce Baker put it, to mob rule.
I wonder how the mayors would react to a similar proposal to allow citizens to seize control of the public housing projects they live in or their local firehouse or police station, if they are dissatisfied with them. Perhaps they