Attorney Wants to Bring ‘Parent Trigger’ to Georgia

Word of California's parent empowerment law—also known as the “parent trigger”—is spreading across the country. An Atlanta attorney says Georgia should adopt a version of the law to help combat pervasively failing schools, especially in the wake of a standardized test cheating scandal.

“What would happen if we changed the current system of governance and offered parents and taxpayers the chance to assert control over public education in Georgia by convincing local school districts and the General Assembly to pass Georgia’s version of the Parent and Taxpayers Trigger?” writes Glenn Delk in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday.

Delk points to the recent investigations into 58 Atlanta schools where state officials found credible evidence that teachers and administrators altered or obtained answers to students’ standardized tests.

“If the Atlanta cheating scandal has shown us anything, it’s that the wrong people control public education and that real accountability in the traditional public school system does not exist,” he writes.

California’s parent empowerment law was passed and signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in January. Under the law, a school district must undertake one of four prescribed “turnaround” strategies if 50.1 percent of qualified parents submit a petition. The state board of education in July and August approved emergency regulations explaining the petition process.

So far, only one parent group, led by Lydia Grant in the Los Angeles suburb of Sunland-Tujunga, has attempted to use the law. Grant's petition drive began two weeks ago and is ongoing.

Delk laid out his version of the parent trigger for Georgia in the newspaper. He argues the law should be expanded to include taxpayers as well as parents.

Under Delk’s proposal:

• 51 percent of the parents whose children attend any public school in Georgia could, with a petition, trigger one of three options—charter conversion, closing the school, or use of tuition tax credit scholarships to enable students to attend a private school;
• 51 percent of the taxpayers of a county or city could vote by referendum to trigger one of the three options for all schools in its jurisdiction;
• The trigger would apply to all public schools, not just failing schools;
• Charter school funding will equal that of traditional public schools;
• Parents and taxpayers could elect to close the schools and give parents a tuition tax credit-funded scholarship. Georgia currently has a $50 million annual cap on the scholarships; the cap should be lifted.

“I believe the General Assembly should pass legislation during the next session to enable parents and taxpayers to bypass reluctant local boards,” Delk writes.

Ben Boychuk (bboychuk@heartland.org) is managing editor of School Reform News.