McKinley parents make history with the Parent Trigger

On December 7, 2010, the parents of McKinley Elementary made history. They became the first parents in the history of America to use the Parent Trigger law, transforming their school through community organizing. They submitted signatures representing over 61% of the parents at their school to the Compton Unified School District in a drive to transform their school from one of the lowest performing in the state into a great school for their children.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• parent trigger
• education
• ed reform

[badhandtim1]

Checks and balances, a good thing!

[steezitup]

john taylor gatto has a book on THIS situation everyone should read it

[robertmike57]

Parents shown here seem undereducated. Leave it to slick talking bullshitters to exploit them with all sorts of lies, coercion, intimidation and bribes. If thats not happening here, it will be in other places with this law. Destroying public schools is great business for those providing goods and services to charter schools.

[robertmike57]

@ant99seth Just wondering why you don't question laparentunion? This vid shows tapping into religious fervor for support. Option on the table is a charter school. Lots of rich people want to get in on the action of destroying public schools, they provide goods/services get paid tax $. No charter school supporter has told me how inexperienced lower paid teachers do a better job and never address violating IDEA and other laws that drive up the costs of running public schools is a good thing.

[ant99seth]

So, "McKinleyParent"... let's discuss a non-hypothetical question. What if 1 or more likely 3 of my child's teachers frankly don't care if he falls through the cracks. As a parent, what can I do? Talk? Scream? Cry? Nothing, that's what. Parents are screwed. McKinley has these children hostage and that's wrong. McKinley doesn't own these kids and the $4+ million we pay teachers over their careers is not an entitlement. Parents are voting for the freedom to choose better. Let them go.

[proudmckinleyparent]

@ant99seth Unlike many of these parents, I have done my research. The Teacher union does care about our children and HAS taken steps to implement reform. The union has lobbied for the passing of QEIA, a program that McKinley fortunately participates in and has allowed McKinley to improve 77 points in the last 2 years. It requires teacher to continue training every year and to have smaller classes. Through the SSC, we parents influence the use of QEIA funds.

[proudmckinleyparent]

@ant99seth This is because the majority of us parents don't go out there and look at the options that we have. We don't need Parent Revolution, we need to get involved and attend the meetings. At my son's school, a school of about 440 students, only about 10 of us show up to the meetings. Teachers there have told me that only 67% of parents show up during conferences. With such lack of involvement, of course our students will fail.

[proudmckinleyparent]

Many of those petitions aren't valid. Many of those petitions were forced out of parents through harrassment, threats and straight out lies. A friend of mine was told to sign twice. You have been lied to by the very person who caused failing schools, not only in Compton, but throughout California. I am talking about Ben Ausin. As a member of the board of education he could have implemented real reform instead of using us to prostitute our children's education to corporations.

[ant99seth]

Parents outnumber school staff by more than 30:1 in America but have 30x or less the political resources (vs. teacher and administrative unions) necessary to bring about reforms like this. God bless ParentsUnion -- operating on a minuscule budget compared with the UTLA, CTA, CFT, AFT, NEA, and other adult interests groups aligned against parents and families -- for organizing this effort. May our child advocates grow as powerful as those protecting failing schools and incompetent teachers.