Georgia could become the only state to force local school boards to consider petitions to transform non-failing traditional public schools into charter schools.
Seven states have so-called “parent-trigger” laws on their books, though only one of them, California’s, has been used to change a school.
California, Connecticut, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio and Texas all allow parents to start a process that could change a traditional public school into a charter school. But in each of those states, where the law is fairly new, the parents could trigger that process only if the public school is, in some way, determined to be a failing school.
Legislation written by Majority Whip Edward Lindsey, R-Atlanta, would let parents and teachers trigger that charter process in any public school in the state. Lindsey’s legislation, House Bill 123, has already passed the state House of Representatives and is scheduled to be discussed in the Senate Education and Youth Committee today.
HB 123 would give parents and teachers some other options to improve a school deemed to be low-achieving because of low graduation rates or poor standardized test scores. Parents and teachers at those schools could petition their school board to impose one of several turnaround models, which include removal of the principal or assistant principal.
Lindsey said he deliberately did not limit his legislation to low-achieving schools.
“I felt that all parents should have that option to petition to their school board,” Lindsey said. “What we are doing is putting teeth into the right to petition.”
Charter schools are public schools that are granted curriculum and organizational flexibility in exchange for pursuing specific education goals. The vast majority of public school students in Georgia attend traditional schools, but charters remain popular among those who view them as an important alternative for parents whose children attend struggling traditional schools.
Opponents of parent-trigger legislation say politicians portray charter schools as a panacea for public school problems despite research that shows they don’t always out-perform traditional public schools. They also say parent-trigger laws have sparked community fights.
“The Parent Trigger legislation is resulting in a rift between parents, teachers and in some cases, the community throughout the country,” the Georgia Federation of Teachers wrote in a letter to state legislators. “Our goal is or should be to comprehensively improve schools in a collaborative and sustainable manner.”
Lindsey said the goal of his legislation is to bring parents and teachers to the table with administrators and school board members.
Under HB 123, a school board would be required to consider a charter school petition if it comes from a majority of a traditional public school’s student households. School boards would also have to consider a charter petition from a majority of teachers and instructional staff.
If 60 percent of student households or teachers and instructional staff petition for charter status, the school board could only reject that petition if two-thirds of its members vote to do so.
In California, parents at Desert Trails Elementary School in San Bernardino County were unhappy with their school and petitioned to have it become a charter school.
The school district initially resisted, and a bitter dispute ensued, spilling into the courts. There, the parents won, and Desert Trails will become a charter school this fall.
A second use of the parent-trigger law, in the Los Angeles Unified School District, has seen the district submit a proposal to remake 24th Street Elementary School.
Cynthia Ramirez, whose daughter attends Desert Trails Elementary and who participated in the push to turn it into a charter school, said Georgia's law doesn't go far enough because it only requires a local school board to consider a charter petition from parents or teachers. California's law requires the school board to act on such petitions.
“If parents are not going to have that power, the status quo will not change,” Ramirez said.
Lindsey said state constitutional concerns were a factor in his decision to keep the decision in the hands of local school board members.
“In those other states, they’ve tied the hands of the school board,” Lindsey said. “We decided the better way was to keep this local. We’re looking to create a greater cooperative attitude between the school board and the parents.”
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