'Parent Trigger' Law in California Spurs Education Reform Debate
'Parent Trigger' Law in California Spurs Education Reform Debate
With support from Los Angeles-based Parent Revolution, parents
in Adelanto, California, a community of 30,000 on the edge of
the Mojave Desert, have petitioned to turn the underperforming
local public grade school, Desert Trails Elementary, into a
charter school managed by a private company, Reuters reports.
The issue has come to a head thanks to a state law passed in
2010 that permits parents at the state's worst performing public
schools to organize, wrest control from their local school
districts, and fire teachers and principals or convert their
schools into charter institutions run by a for-profit company.
According to Reuters, Desert Trails, where more than half the
students are unable to pass state math or reading tests, has
been struggling to meet state requirements for many years.
However, another group of parents in town, with support from
both state and local teacher