The first parent trigger attempt in Compton, California, failed, but that hasn’t stopped Desert Trails elementary parents from pursuing better educational opportunities for their kids. The “trigger parents” plan to take the matter to court after the Adelanto school board unanimously rejected parents’ request to turn around the failing elementary school.
The basis for litigation is that the district came to the denial decision based on allegedly forged documents. The opposition tried to get parents to rescind signatures, but the original author of the parent trigger bill says this issue isn’t even addressed in legislation. Not to mention, the turnaround petition held signatures well over the required 51% majority, even after the opposition attempted to fight back. Turnaround parents are outraged that the district didn’t even consider taking a peek at the original petition to compare to see if original documents were indeed modified.
The Mercury News duly notes that this law is proving difficult to enforce “as school districts and teachers unions have balked at the parent petitions. “Defenders of the status quo do not cede power easily,” said Ben Austin, executive director of Parent Revolution, the nonprofit spearheading the parent trigger movement.
Check back here as this story unfolds, and be sure to follow Parent Revolution on Twitter to stay up to speed as they fight for parents to have a say in their kids’ future.