Parent Trigger Law Hitting the Target, but Still Way off the Mark

The California State Legislature offered a flawed set of options for parents struggling to enact reforms in struggling local schools. The petitioning parents could have the local school turned into a charter or change the school staff.

The "Parent-Trigger" Law met opposition in Compton, where the school board was able to sue and invalidate the signatures collected.

The parents of Desert Trailss Elementary School in Adelanto initiated their own parent trigger law, yet the same suit which had prevented victory for Compton parents has been vacated recently, clearing the way for the frustrated parents to improve the lot and education of their children.

The parents in Adelanto wanted to exercise greater control over staff and curriculum in the school, but the parents signed onto another petition in case the first petition failed to gain any traction with residents.

The school board permitted parents to rescind their signatures if they disagreed with the means of the method employed by the parent organization to implement much needed reforms per the Trigger Law. The judge presiding in the case argued that parents, once they signed the petition to force the Trigger reforms, could not then turn around and take back their support.

Just as voters cannot run to the ballot box to take back their votes once the tallies have been counted, so it was just for the judge to rule against the school district and in favor of the parent petitioners.

Education reform is sputtering, despite making some headway, because of the diverse political interests which support and frustrate these initiatives. Would it not be better to get politics as much ass possible out of education? When activists scream about education as a "right", the resulting rules, regulations, and rigorous opposition from interested interest groups creates more problems than it solves. By demanding the education be a right that all are entitled to, rather than expanding access and increasing quality, interested parties witness the devolution of curriculum and instruction in the name of equity and fairness.

Voluntary enrollment and a voucher program, two initiatives that would not cost the state or the taxpayers any money, would allow parents and their children to choose the school of their choice (as I am convinced that a large majority of students would still go to school,  even if they had the option not to). By taking away the legal and psychological pressure which forces students to endure difficult and dysfunctional school in many cases, the student moral and professional capacities of instructors and administrators would also improve, as they would not have to contend with oppositional students and parents who do not care about educating their kids in the first place.

The Parent Trigger is hitting the target for implementing comprehensive education reform, but the state of California and the country still have a long way to go from the free and compulsory education which is failing our students and our communities.