The Parent Trigger: A New Paradigm for Parental Empowerment

What is the Parent Trigger?
The Parent Trigger is a historic new law that gives parents in California the right to force a turnaround their child’s current or future underperforming school. If 51% of parents sign a “Parent Trigger” petition, the Local Education Authority (LEA) is mandated to perform one of the four “School Renewal Strategies” outlined under Race to the Top.

What are the four “School Renewal Strategies”?
The four options available for schools under the Parent Trigger include charter conversion, two different in-District reform options, or school closure.

Who gets to choose the renewal strategy?
Parents get to pick which renewal strategy they want, and the LEA is required to implement that strategy unless, in a public hearing and written notice to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, they demonstrate why they cannot implement such a strategy. In that case, however, they must implement one of the other four strategies – doing nothing is not an option.

What schools are eligible?
Any school in California that has been on Program Improvement for 3+ years and has an API score of under 800 is eligible for transformation under the parent trigger.

How is the “51% of parents” metric defined?
The metric can be reached one of two ways. The first option is for parents of 51% of the students at a given school to sign, which triggers that school. The second involves feeder school parents, and requires 51% of the aggregate of both current parents and immediate feeder parents (elementary parents to trigger a middle school, or middle school parents for a high school) to sign, which also triggers the school in question.

Where can I find more information?
For more info, please contact Gabe Rose at Parent Revolution – 213.621.3052 or grose@parentsunion.org.