Power to the parents: using parent trigger laws to change educational outcomes

As Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union continue to argue about the reasons for the district’s recent school closings, one thing is clear – parents have largely been excluded from the conversation. But they don’t have to be – a new law appearing in seven states across the country, if adopted in Illinois, would...

As Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union continue to argue about the reasons for the district’s recent school closings, one thing is clear – parents have largely been excluded from the conversation.

But they don’t have to be – a new law appearing in seven states across the country, if adopted in Illinois, would allow parents to play a larger role in their children’s educational lives.

Called the parent trigger, it provides parents with the power to take over low-performing public schools and overhaul them – firing ineffective principals, dismissing poorly performing teachers or transforming their children’s school into a charter school. Some proposed parent triggers have even had an option that would allow parents to use public money to help their children attend the school of their choice.

While seven states have parent trigger laws on the books – California, Connecticut, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio and Texas – California is the only state where parents have used it.

In fact, the first three schools that were transformed using the parent trigger law will be opening this month in the southern part of the state.

Here’s how the law works:

• In most states, parents are only allowed to use the parent trigger if their school has been deemed low-performing by the state – this label is usually the result of a school not making adequate yearly progress under federal No Child Left Behind standards or posting below average test scores for multiple years.

• Parents who want to take over a low-performing public school must gather the signatures of at least 50 percent of the parents whose children attend the school.

• After collecting those signatures, parents must present their petition to their local school board.

• The board has the option of approving the petition and implementing whatever actions the parents ask for or denying the petition – if this happens, the parents can appeal the decision to a superior court.

• If the board approves the petition or the parents win in court, the local school board implements the overhaul option the parents choose.

If there is any state that is in need of a parent trigger law, it is Illinois.

Only 25 percent of Illinois’ 11th graders are college-ready. Additionally, 82 percent of the state’s districts and 66 percent of its schools did not meet federal benchmarks for student performance last year.

Things are even worse in Chicago.

Only 7.9 percent of Chicago high school students are college-ready. The district has never met federal benchmarks for student success. Only 6 percent of its graduates end up earning four-year degrees.

It’s time for the state to change how it educates Illinois students. The parent trigger law is all about putting power back into the hands of the people who should have always wielded it – parents.