Why Democrats Should Oppose Parent Trigger Laws
By Jeff Bryant
March 15, 2012 - 2:35pm ET
Last week in Florida there was an important victory for progressive Democrats that not many Democrats know about. Even worse, most Democrats may not even be aware why this was a victory.
The important win was generated by a coalition of parent groups, schoolteachers, and advocates for public education who were able to pressure the Florida State Senate to block HB 1191, called "The Parent Empowerment Law." The law creates a process known as the Parent Trigger, in which a majority of parents at a "low-performing school" (usually defined by test scores) can sign a petition to trigger one of a narrow set of options, which often include firing all or some of the staff, turning the school over to a charter operator, or closing the school outright.
According to the education trade newspaper Education Week, the first Parent Trigger law passed in California in 2010, and two similar laws were then passed in Texas and Mississippi. Now, Parent Trigger laws are being considered in more than 20 more states.
When the Parent Trigger narrowly passed the California state legislature in 2010, it was widely portrayed as a grudge match between "parent rights" advocates and "the education establishment."
But in traveling cross-country from California to Florida, something happened in the Parent Trigger debate. By the time the Parent Trigger arrived in Florida, parents were against it, as Valerie Strauss explains in her blog at The Washington Post,and the coalition against it was led by none other than the Florida PTA. What happened?
Those who back these Parent Trigger measures couch their support in theprogressive rhetoric of "giving parents a voice" and "getting parents engaged."
