California is the birthplace of “parent-trigger” laws, a relatively new means of parental empowerment in public education. Trigger laws allow parents of students at a failing campus, by majority petition, to reconstitute the administration of their campus into a public charter school, operated either by an outside charter school group or, in some cases, the district itself. Though it is designed to give voice to parents looking to make a difference in their child’s education, it is frequently met with heavy resistance by the education establishment.

Just the same, parent-trigger is gaining traction, particularly since Desert Trails Elementary in Adelanto, California pulled the first successful trigger in 2012. This article in the City Journalhighlights that success, despite establishment pushback: 

Since the Desert Trails parents won their victory, parents at three other Southern California schools have availed themselves of the law.  Parents at Haddon Avenue Elementary School in the Los Angeles suburb of Pacoima gathered some of the signatures they needed to trigger staff and other changes at the school, but they suspended their petition drive when administrators and teachers agreed to an in-district reform plan. At 24th Street Elementary School in South Los Angeles, parents overwhelmingly approved a collaborative partnership between the Los Angeles Unified School District and Crown Prep Academy, a charter operator. Under a plan that takes effect next week, the district will be responsible for instruction in pre-kindergarten through fourth grade, and Crown Prep will oversee fifth through eighth grade. In an unusual circumstance, the United Teachers of Los Angeles, happy to be included in the process, was a willing party to the conversion at 24th Street Elementary.

All highly encouraging. But, continued pushback from the education establishment should be expected. The same article points specifically to teacher unions attempting to blockade parent-trigger any way they can. Similar resistance, centered on the idea that parental empowerment could destabilize our schools, successfully derailed efforts to strengthen Texas’ own parent trigger laws (which are very weak) during the 83rd Texas Legislature.

Education reform is a gradual process, often painfully so in Texas. Just the same, the progress parent-trigger is making in California, and continued efforts to expand the law into other states, suggests a positive trend for parental empowerment nationwide.