Use a Gun, Go to Church

The controversial and scandal plagued Parent Trigger attempt at McKinley Elementary, in Compton, may finally be resolved, but not in parents’ favor. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Anthony Mohr has ruled that he will throw out the petitions signed by 265 parents because many failed to date their signatures, in violation of state law (See John Festerwald’s TopEd blog).

Mohr seemed saddened by his decision, as he had been pumping for parents in his previous rulings on the case. However, as a dutiful servant of the state, he acquiesced to the rule of law, telling parents he understood their frustration and thought his ruling might even be detrimental to the interests of their students. Nevertheless, parents who pulled the trigger at McKinley will still get their lovely new charter school. It will just be just housed in a local church, rather than in a public school building.

The Compton case was the first attempt at using California’s Parent Trigger law. Contrary to the claims of advocates, it was not a truly parent-initiated reform or an example of “parent power.” Rather, the “movement” was initiated by an astroturf organization known as Parent Revolution, which was funded by Eli Broad, a billionaire financier and opponent of public education, and chaired by Steve Barr, former CEO of Green Dot Public Schools, Inc. Green Dot, itself, has received funding from Broad and Bill Gates.

Parent Revolution targeted several low income communities in the Los Angeles area and went door to door to recruit parents. In other words, Parent Revolution is really more like a gang of corporate raiders than a grass roots parental choice movement. In order to obtain the necessary signatures, Parent Revolution resorted to bullying and intimidation of parents, even threatening to have immigrant parents deported if they refused to sign the petition.

Teachers Veto Parent Trigger

Huck/Konopacki Labor Cartoons

In a potential (albeit double-edged) victory for teachers, they may gain the power to nullify charter conversions resulting from California’s Parent Trigger law. The law has been in limbo, as the State Board of Education tried to resolve conflicts and ambiguities in its original wording. A final version probably won’t be completed until July, reports John Fensterwald - Educated Guess, in his Toped piece: Could teachers veto charter option?

It is a victory for teachers because it gives them some power to fight the potential layoffs or loss of union rights that typically result from charter school conversion. Charter schools conversion also typically reduces or eliminates teacher and parent oversight and their voices from decision-making. It is also a victory for teachers because they are in the best position to understand the needs of their student population and to be able to see the larger picture and plan reforms that benefit the majority of students, rather than a vocal subset.

The decision is potentially double-edged because if teachers veto a decision made by the majority of parents, they will likely alienate parents and exacerbate relations with a powerful ally. This could increase animosity toward their unions and further fuel the anti-teacher hysteria that is currently poisoning the education reform discourse. However, this should not happen if teachers cultivate strong relationships with parents in the first place and work with them to develop a common understanding of the needs of the school and solutions that are not only beneficial to students, but that also preserve parent and teacher oversight of the school.

The problem is that the Parent Trigger law is not really about parent power at all. It is a Trojan Horse that allows private charter school companies to force their way into districts under the illusion that parents made the decision. This was clearly manifested at Compton’s McKinley Elementary, the law’s first test case, where Parent Revolution, a front group for Green Dot Charter Schools, funded and manipulated the process, even resorting to intimidation and extortion in order to pad the vote. Astroturf organizations like Parent Revolution will certainly exploit any teacher resistance to their advantage, making it even more urgent for teachers to be well-organized before anyone evens starts to discuss Parent Triggers.

The reason why teachers may win a veto over Parent Trigger charter conversions is because there was already a law on the books that allowed a majority of teachers to vote to convert their school to a charter school. Therefore, if a school hasn’t already been converted to a charter as a result of a majority vote of teachers, it can be assumed that a majority of teachers did not want a charter conversion. Because the Parent Trigger law must follow existing law, a group of parents should not be able to overrule a prior decision by teachers.

If a reform is truly worth doing (i.e., it is both beneficial to students and the benefits outweigh the costs), then it would make the most sense for there to be a consensus of all stakeholders, rather than pitting one group against another. Alienating any of the stakeholders can undermine their buy-in and full participation and consequently the success of the reform.

Not surprisingly, the Astroturf phony parent power proponents are angry with this turn of events. Advocates say that the purpose of the law “is to empower parents to change schools, not put obstacles in the way,” reports Fensterwald. He also quotes Gabe Rose, deputy director of Parent Revolution, who said “It’s nonsensical on its face” to also require teachers’ approval. Tellingly, Rose also noted that if teachers wanted a conversion, they would have already done it, suggesting that he doesn’t give a damn about the professional expertise of teachers or their concerns and issues. He simply wants free reign to use his vast war chest to manipulate, bully, intimidate and confuse parents in opposition to teachers and in support of his corporate charter school buddies.

Brown’s “Pro-Teacher” Board Fast Tracks Parent Trigger

California’s infamous Parent Trigger law, which allows a majority of parents to petition to have their low-performing school converted to a private charter school, has been given the green light to move ahead by State Board of Education President Michael Kirst. The law’s first test came last year, when parents at Compton’s McKinley Elementary, led by the Green Dot front group Parent Revolution, used strong arm techniques to bully parents into signing the petition. Some parents complained that they were threatened with deportation if they didn’t sign. As a result, Compton exploited irregularities in the petition to invalidate it, while community groups and anti-charter advocates called for a revamping of the law. Instead, under Kirst’s leadership, the State Board extended emergency rules for the law and expedited the timetable for coming up with new rules to clarify disputed issues.

Kirst and the School Board diverted the issue to a committee assembled by new State Schools Superintendent Tom Torlakson that includes representatives from Parent Revolution, as well as the California Teachers Association. This committee is to make recommendations by next month on permanent regulations on the Parent Trigger law. Meanwhile, the existing emergency regulations will hold, with a vote of 9-1 by the State Board, with only the former CTA lobbyist Patricia Rucker voting against it.

Some Issues That Still Need Resolution

• How signatures will be verified
• How to ensure that parents receive accurate information
• How to ensure that petitions are handled fairly
• Who decides which charter operator will take over
• What will be the appeals process
• How to prevent bullying and intimidation of parents

Compton’s Parent Trigger Shooting Blanks

By a unanimous vote, the Compton School Board rejected the McKinley Elementary Parent Trigger petition to convert it into a private charter school, calling the petition “materially non-qualifying” and “insufficient.” The board said that the petition failed to include information required by state law and that parents failed to provide evidence that they had utilized a “rigorous review process” in choosing Celerity Educational Group to run the school. The petition also cited the wrong education code section.

The decision angered some parents who supported the conversion of the school because they claimed it was the only way to turn the school around. This is clearly not true, however, as McKinley’s teachers were turning the school around themselves, without giving it away to a private company. Over the past two years, they had improved their Academic Performance Indicator by 77 points.

Under the Parent Trigger law, valid signatures from parents of half the school's students can trigger its conversion to a private charter school. In Compton, however, the signatures were not entirely valid. Many of those had originally signed rescinded their signatures, claiming that they had been obtained through deception or coercion. The petition campaign was wracked with accusations of fraud and intimidation, including threats that parents would be deported if they refused to sign the petition. The campaign was organized by Parent Revolution, a front group for Green Dot Schools, a for-profit Educational Management Organization. Ben Austin, defrocked California Board of Education member and executive director of the Parent Revolution, said they would challenge the decision in court.

Compton Corporate Trigger

Even Obama Says They Cheated (186kps)

This week Compton Unified School District (CUSD) officials were verifying parent signatures in the Parent Revolution attempt to take over McKinley school and replace it with a private charter school using California’s “Parent Trigger” law. CUSD required parents to show up in person at the school, show official identification and then sign a document saying whether their signatures on the original petition were valid. Parents had two days to verify their signatures, from 7:30-9:00 am and from 3:00-6:00 pm. Parents who didn’t show up would have their signatures invalidated. CUSD later extended the deadline after getting pestered by Mother Jones magazine (a curious anti-union move by an organization named for a labor leader).

Parent Revolution is calling the signature verification process intimidating and illegal. While the rules set up by CUSD do seem unreasonable considering how difficult it is for parents to get time off work, it should be made very clear that the verification process was only necessary because Parent Revolution had engaged in a campaign of intimidation and bullying in order to acquire the signatures in the first place. There was ample evidence that the petition should be invalidated. Parent Revolution initiated their campaign with such secrecy that even the school’s own PTA didn’t know about it in advance. Their members harassed parents at work and at their homes, even after they refused to sign the petition. Some parents were told they would be deported if they didn’t sign the petition. Others felt they were tricked into signing.

“The process is messy because of the politics,” said USC education professor Priscilla Wohlstetter. In reality it is not politics at all, but business that is messy, specifically the business of privatizing schools. Parent Revolution is a front group for Green Dot charter schools, chaired by Steve Barr, former CEO of Green Dot and heavily funded by Eli Broad, billionaire opponent of public education. Both Broad and Barr are vocal supporters of school privatization. Their goal, of course, is to convert LA public schools into private charters that can skim off tax dollars. However, when schools are converted to charters, parental and community control is replaced with centralized decision-making by the charter school, with virtually no transparency or accountability to the community or teachers. What is messy is getting parents to relinquish their rights and influence to a private company that only wants to make a buck off their kids.

Parent Trigger or Corporate Bomb?

Huck/Konopacki Labor Cartoons

The well-publicized attempt to convert McKinley Elementary in Compton to a charter school, using California’s “Parent Trigger” law, has been hailed as a victory for parental choice and the movement to improve failing schools. Both claims are lies.

Underperforming, But Improving Dramatically Without Conversion

McKinley may have been a low-performing, low income school, but it had been making huge academic leaps, improving its API (Academic Performance Indicator) by 77 points over the last two years. With such dramatic improvement, McKinley should have been seen as a model of what is working, not as a poster boy for school privatization. Under NCLB’s absurd accounting methods, though, McKinley continued to be seen as a failing school, thus providing ammunition to the corporate vultures who saw a meal waiting to be snatched.

In Come the Corporate Raiders

Likewise, the vote to convert McKinley was led by a group called Parent Revolution, which is funded by Eli Broad, a billionaire financier and opponent of public education, and chaired by Steve Barr, former CEO of Green Dot Public Schools, Inc. Green Dot was also backed by Broad, and by Bill Gates. Parent Revolution targeted several low income communities in the Los Angeles area and went door to door to recruit parents. In other words, Compton parent trigger is looking less like a grass roots parental choice movement, and more like a gang of corporate raiders, hell bent on scamming tax dollars for their private gain.

Parent Revolution claimed that 62% of McKinley parents supported the conversion to a charter school. However, the organization has been denounced for bullying parents into voting their way. Parents were harassed at work and in their communities to vote for the Parent Revolution initiative. Many were repeatedly called after refusing to sign the petition. Some were even told they would be deported if the initiative failed. 50-60 parents have since asked that their names be removed from the petition. Many showed up at a petition-signing event attended by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, with picket signs saying, “Our Kids Aren’t For Sale.”

Governor Schwarzenegger has intervened on behalf of the corporate raiders, denouncing the “intimidation” tactics of those opposed the school conversion, but saying nothing about the dishonesty and intimidation of its supporters. Arne Duncan and Rahm Emanuel have both lauded the conversion, with Emanuel threatening to implement a parent trigger law in Chicago, once he becomes mayor.

Anything Is Better Than the Status Quo, Not

Parent Trigger advocates and other Ed Deformers have tried to convince us that anything is better than the status quo, which is just plain idiotic. Nevertheless, the more they bash a particular school, group of teachers, or system, the worse they appear to be, thus building a blood lust for change. The problem is, even if their criticisms were valid, change, in and of itself, is not always an improvement.

Take Celerity, which will take over McKinley. They have a reputation of excluding, or outsourcing kids they believe will bring down test scores, especially special education students. Vielka McFarland, founder of Celerity, said that she does plan to assess all students, but “only to better understand their needs.” Celerity also has a history of bullying teachers and suppressing their right to free speech and their academic freedom, including the firing of two of their teachers for teaching about Emmett Till.

Celerity was imposed on Compton without any competitive bidding. They have a very limited track record, and little indication that they will be able to improve McKinley, especially after they skim off a large portion of their tax financed revenues to pay their corporate salaries. They have not made any commitment to keep any of McKinley’s teachers and have a history of antagonism toward unions.