Background: "Parent trigger," a concept first enacted in state legislation in California in 2010, lets the parents of students in a low-performing school collectively to petition the state or school district to allow for alternative school governance, like conversion to a charter school. Now enacted in a handful of states nationwide, parent trigger is supported by corporate backers like the Koch brothers.
- A bill, HB 123-also known as the "Parent and Teacher Empowerment Act"-has been introduced in the Georgia Legislature to allow a majority of parents (more than 50 percent) or a majority of faculty and instructional staff to petition their local boards of education to convert their low-achieving local public school into a charter, or to implement any one of six turnaround models.
- The truth is parent trigger legislation is not about empowering parents, teachers and other education stakeholders. It's about handing over our neighborhood public schools to organizations that would undermine and privatize our schools.
- The Georgia Federation of Teachers strongly believes that all education stakeholders-parents, community members, teachers and other school employees-should have genuine input in decision-making involving our schools. But that kind of empowerment is not provided by parent trigger.
- Parent trigger does not provide opportunity for more positive school reform. Real school reform includes pushing for smaller class sizes, initiatives to improve reading and math skills, encouraging parent involvement and other research-based reforms that we know work.
- The Georgia Federation of Teachers believes it is essential that teachers and other school employees join together with parents and members of the community to oppose those who would hurt our kids and our schools through harmful legislation like parent trigger.
Source: Parents Across America www.parentsacrossamerica.org American Federation of Teachers www.aft.org
Say No to “Parent Trigger!”
Georgia Federation of Teachers
4 Executive Park East, Suite 120 ● Atlanta, GA 30329-2212 ● Ph. 404-315-0222