Parent Trigger law "laying the groundwork for the hostile, corporate takeover of public schools"

[madfloridian]

Those are the words of Nan Rich, Florida state senate Democratic leader. She was at a press conference this morning in which a coalition of parents' groups including the Florida PTA attacked the law being fast-tracked through the Florida legislature.

It seems to be a losing battle, though. It is supported by enough national Democratic leaders that voices here against it will be muted.

Parents, Democrats bash ‘parent trigger’ proposal

A coalition of parent-led groups, including the Florida PTA, and Democrats bashed a fast-tracked “parent trigger” proposal that would let parents at failing schools determine their fate.

The bill “has everything with laying the groundwork for the hostile, corporate takeover of public schools throughout Florida, a direct attack on public education,” Senate Democratic Leader Nan Rich of Weston said at a press conference this morning.

Before the event began, Los Angeles-based Parent Revolution lobbyists handed out press releases asserting that national Democrats support the controversial measure. The California group called opponents “defenders of the status quo” and accused the Florida Education Association of invoking “new boogeymen” in “an attempt to confuse parents and political observers.” The “parent trigger” is now in place in first-in-the-nation California, Texas and Mississippi.

One Republican spoke out against the bill.

Republican Sen. Paula Dockery joined House and Senate Democrats, parents and teachers union leaders at the press conference this morning. Dockery, R-Lakeland, was out sick last week but her “no” vote on the Senate Education Appropriations Committee could have killed the bill, which passed on a 4-3 vote. The Senate Budget Committee signed off on the bill at a rare Saturday morning meeting after a bipartisan coalition blocked it from being yanked from the committee and sent to the Senate floor, where a vote will likely come sometime before the session ends Friday.

She also spoke out about the Senate GOP leaders were handling the issue.

The petition the parents need to sign does not even "include the same standards required for signature-gathering in ballot drives. Accusations of ballot signature fraud have caused problems both times the process has been invoked in California."

The Parent Trigger laws were started by charter companies who were organizing parents and calling it grassroots. It is really astroturf.

Here is more about this very deceptive bill.

Ravitch: Parent Trigger is deceptive scheme, alluring image, meant to undermine public education.

Parent Revolution is what is known as an "Astroturf" group, an organization pretending to be representative of ordinary parents, but actually promoting a charter agenda. When Parent Revolution sent paid organizers to gather signatures from parents at McKinley Elementary School in Compton, Calif., the campaign was conducted secretively. The organizers collected signatures from 60 percent of the parents. When the petition was submitted to the school district in December 2010, it designated the charter operator—the Celerity Educational Group—that would take over the school, although it is not clear who chose it. The matter is not yet resolved, since each side has accused the other of intimidation.

One of the worst things about this bill is that it empowers parents to blame only the teachers and the school. It would take from them all responsibility and accountability for the actions of their children and themselves.