Atlanta lawmaker to push parent trigger bill in January. Cites North Atlanta High as an example of why it’s needed.
In a break from the charter school debate, here is something coming your way in January — a push for a parent trigger law in Georgia by Atlanta state Rep. Edward Lindsey. (See earlier blog on parent trigger laws.)
The trigger law allows parents to take over a failing school and reopen it as an independent charter if they collect signatures from the majority of families. Only a few states have a parent trigger law. The first was enacted in California in 2010 and adopted since in some fashion in Connecticut, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.
But 20 other states, including Georgia, have seen unsuccessful efforts to pass parent trigger laws. The film “Won’t Back Down” was a fictional account of a school takeover over a parent trigger law.
This is the official release:
State Representative Edward Lindsey, R-Atlanta, the Georgia House Majority Whip, announced today his intention to push for passage of a Parent Trigger Bill during next year’s legislative session of the Georgia General Assembly. The measure will give parents a greater voice in school governance.
“We have been working with parents and educators on this issue for some time,” said Rep. Lindsey. “However, the events at North Atlanta High School highlight the need for this kind of legislation. Parents, students, and school staff were completely cut out of the decision making process. That is no way to instill needed confidence to improve our schools.”
A parent trigger bill will make it easier for parents to petition to convert their existing traditional public school into a local public charter school, which would give parents greater control over their children’s education and give the school greater flexibility in improving student achievement.
“An integral part of improving education in Georgia is greater parent buy-in to their children’s education. The parent trigger proposal will assist parents with this in both well-established and struggling low performance schools,” Rep. Lindsey continued. “A quality education for all of our state’s children is critical to their future and ours. All parents should be given a greater voice in achieving this.”
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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136 comments Add your comment
Private Citizen
November 5th, 2012
6:27 pm
I”ve seen really high performing teachers cry over this stuff when they get the news. You know, something is wrong in this picture if I’ve seen three different teachers cry during the last couple of years due to management actions and in one case a skilled political parent who was working over the managers who had to go along with it. Yes, the female teachers shed tears, meanwhile the male teachers end up having to go to the doctor for health problems due to workplace conditions directly due to management (also three examples in the same time frame). One teacher fell over and passed out at meeting, but that was just because they were exhausted.
Private Citizen
November 5th, 2012
6:47 pm
And I clearly recall the day when I realised that both of my subject area colleagues were taking pills prescribed by the doctor for mood/ motivation (i.e. anti-depressants or variant there-of). Well, one of them just gave notice to quit. And I just bet you a dollar that they will stop taking those pills, too. This is one of the most knowledgeable teachers I have ever met anywhere as a colleague, had several difficult and intricate areas of knowledge down “cold” and was able to teach the same in a clear structured manner. This person just “threw in the towel” as the saying goes.
This in interesting. In the UK, for high school teachers, “46 per cent taking antidepressants or facing long lay-offs from school through stress.” http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/nearly-half-of-teachers-have-suffered-from-mental-illness-6150000.html In the UK, student behavior is causing stress for teachers. In the US, it’s the school management. I’ve seen a teacher cry or have to go to the doctor for long term problems due to the students. Sometimes a teacher has to go to the doctor if they’ve been assaulted by a student, but this is usually pretty minor. It’s not minor when it is due to the adults because it doesn’t happen in a moment, it goes on and on. When a student assaults a teacher, there’s a big response and the student is made accountable. This is not the same when an adult treats teachers in a way to injure them or cause them stress. Just like what that Mr. Davis guy did and then walks off like twinkle-toes and then even returns to the scene of the crime. And then he goes home and sleeps good at night and attends the banquet and probably gets a raise as “an effective problem solver.” You know at least probably some of those people who were marched out of the building are probably feeling like their lives have been wrecked and now have PTSD and this type thing does not resolve quickly. It is an assault that they endured. They’ll probably be having flashbacks when they’re 80.
Private Citizen
November 5th, 2012
6:49 pm
I tried to get my doctor to prescribe anti-depressants. (got to be part of the team!) He wouldn’t do it. He’s a good doctor.
Private Citizen
November 5th, 2012
6:52 pm
TYPO CORRECTION. ” I’ve never seen a teacher cry or have to go to the doctor for long term problems due to the students.”
A Conservative Voice
November 5th, 2012
7:08 pm
@Private Citizen
November 5th, 2012
10:18 am
Conservative I am correct that you can buy their paper at every drug store, grocery store, and office supply store in the state.
Welcome to Georgia. Have a nice day.
Son, I’ve been in Georgia for dang near 3/4 of a century. There’s an old country son entitled……”I’ve forgot more than you’ll ever know”. We used to have good schools in Georgia, until folks started meddling with ‘em. Quit thinking you know everything .
Observer
November 5th, 2012
7:22 pm
@ Private Citizen. You have blogarrhea.
Sandy Springs Parent
November 5th, 2012
7:58 pm
@ Top School you need to get off your own agenda for once. You are so wrong. First my dentist has taken his 12th grader out and she is now being homeschooled. My kitchen flooded from a broken pipe, I live in Riverwood District. My insurer told me to find a short term rental. Their is virtually nothing to rent in the Riverwood District, unlike two years ago when my last house sold. When I was at a luxury apt. Complex looking for a 3 bedroom, a couple asked where my daughter who was with me attended. They said they had to do what ever to get their two kids out of the North Atlanta Schools. This Complex told me that it would be almost $4,000 for a 3 bedroom 2,400 apartment in the Riverwood School District. But if I wanted to cram into a 2 bedroom for the 90 days while my kitchen is being fixed then $1,700.
AlreadySheared
November 5th, 2012
8:02 pm
@I love teaching…
I love putting things in writing. That way I can go back and reread.
I never said that I “think “private” schools are staffed by some elite group of teachers who graduated from some “special” teaching training program that somehow made them more “skilled,” more “professional” and more caring than their public school counterparts. ”
Didn’t say it, didn’t hint at it, didn’t intimate it, didn’t even think it. Why do you think I did?
Sandy Springs Parent
November 5th, 2012
8:06 pm
The above conversation with the couple trying to get out of North Atlanta was today. With the new Erron Davis Principal. They told me the school is crashing fast.
Ron F.
November 5th, 2012
8:19 pm
Edward Lindsey is proposing this??? Enough said….
I love teaching. I hate what it is becoming...
November 5th, 2012
9:03 pm
@Alreadysheared “Didn’t say it, didn’t hint at it, didn’t intimate it, didn’t even think it. Why do you think I did?”
I am sorry if I misconstrued your comment, but taken as a whole it certainly sounded as though you were comparing public school educators with private school educators and suggesting that public school educators are wanting, because, “in their minds (they) are educational experts who know, and do, what is best for their clients – their students. Parents who disagree, are dissatisfied, or become visibly involved are irresponsible, infantilizing meddlers.” Whereas according to you, “of course, the educators in private schools are skilled professionals who want and do what is best for their students.”
To me this sounds like public school teachers don’t measure up in you opinon. I am glad I was wrong in my assumptions, and that was not what you meant to imply. Accept my apology for misinterpreting your comment.
AlreadySheared
November 5th, 2012
9:47 pm
@I love teaching…
With respect to earning parental approval, I did compare public schools unfavorably to private schools as follows: when confronted with dissatisfied parents, a public school can assume the attitude that their educators are experts and as long as they do what they think is best for students, parents should myob. Hence the fierce resistance in this blog to the idea of parent triggers.
If parents, en masse, become dissatisfied with a private school, that school will go out of business. Period. Essentially, every private school in existence lives today, student by student, with parent triggers.
Private Citizen
November 5th, 2012
9:56 pm
Regarding the recent management ambush of NAHS, Unlike in Georgia, the UK has laws about how worker disputes are to be handled and there is responsibility upon the administrators initiating the action. This is because the UK has a teacher union, established in 1870, that currently has 300,000 members.
http://www.teachers.org.uk/docs/files/guidance-for-nut-reps-disciplinary-capability-procedures-oct-11-_sb-1.doc
Where dismissal or disciplinary action is contemplated, your employer must follow these steps:
Investigation: To establish the facts of the case an investigation should take place. The investigation will normally be conducted by someone other than the head teacher or the teacher’s line manager.
Statement of grounds and invitation to meeting: The employer should write to the teacher setting out the alleged conduct or capability, invite the teacher to a meeting, and inform the teacher of the right to be accompanied by a trade union representative at the meeting.
Meeting: Before taking any action, the employer should hold a meeting to discuss the matter. The employer should inform the teacher in writing of the decision, offer the right to appeal, and inform the teacher of the right to be accompanied by a trade union representative at the appeal.
Appeal: If the teacher does not agree with the decision, he or she should submit a written notice of appeal. The employer should invite the teacher to an appeal meeting. The employer should inform the teacher of the decision in writing after the meeting.
______________________
Georgia plantation system. There’s no law for managers to follow. Get used to it. PS You’re crazy to work under the conditions here. There’s no unions and there’s no protection for teachers or building administrators.
Private Citizen
November 5th, 2012
10:01 pm
To repeat and to emphasize: “Governing bodies of maintained schools are legally obliged to establish workplace procedures to deal with matters of staff discipline and capability.”
Private Citizen
November 5th, 2012
10:07 pm
Regarding government school management in Georgia, the term “lawless hooligans” comes to mind.
lawless: not restrained or controlled by law.
hooligan: synonyms: rowdy – ruffian – roughneck – rough. “typically one of a gang”
Private Citizen
November 5th, 2012
10:31 pm
The exact same thing as the U. S. charterization movement is occurring in Britain and it is called “Academies.” When GW Bush was setting up charterization in the U. S., Tony Blair was doing the same thing in Britain. The “Criticism of and opposition to the academies scheme” is pretty much the identical arguments as to what is occurring with the U. S. charterization movement. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_%28England%29#Criticism_of_and_opposition_to_the_academies_scheme
I love teaching. I hate what it is becoming...
November 6th, 2012
6:31 am
@AlreadySheared “Essentially, every private school in existence lives today, student by student, with parent triggers.”
Hmmm. Well, that might explain the occassional “straight A” student who transfers from a private school into my classroom and who does not seem to have mastered the material their report cards indicates they have. I guess as long as the child was receiving good grades, the parents were satisfied.
AlreadySheared
November 6th, 2012
7:35 am
@I love teaching…
1) Yes, that would help explain it.
2) Based on the comments I have seen on this blog, grade inflation is an issue in our public schools as well.
Top School
November 6th, 2012
9:49 am
@Sandy Springs Parent
Lawd God…check in to Grady for some help soon! I don’t know if they can get all those screws back in place. Pity for the child exposed to all this neurotic DRAMA.
Not feeding my ego…just stating what I think from my 13+ years of experiences in APS Northside. It is a little different when you are on the inside looking out.
Get that pipe fixed…and check in ASAP.
Maybe give those kids to someone sane for awhile until you can fix all the nuts and bolts.
Private Citizen
November 6th, 2012
10:22 am
Hey Top School
It is a little different when you are on the inside looking out.
I agree with you. You’ve got health care and the kids don’t. It is a little different.
Private Citizen
November 6th, 2012
10:29 am
Sandy Springs Parent Be careful if the contractor is using illegal non-citizen labor – known to steal the washer and drier and little bits of furniture here and there. I’m not saying this to be mean, just know of it happening under similar circumstance as yours / Atlanta area.
Private Citizen
November 6th, 2012
10:34 am
Make those kids cook on a hotplate in the den. Or put an outdoor kitchen in the back yard gazebo. They might learn something.
Private Citizen
November 6th, 2012
10:49 am
comic relief: check out the video http://www.newsnet5.com//dpp/news/local_news/cleveland_metro/woman-who-drove-along-sidewalk-to-avoid-stopping-for-cleveland-school-bus-must-wear-idiot-sign
Top School
November 6th, 2012
10:54 am
@ Private School
When will the space ship return to pick you up?
Is there a pill you can take in the meantime?
I thought Maureen monitored this site.
YOU SAID…Wonder if you have to (or ever will have to) deal with anything.
I wonder if you ever leave the house? talking off the top of your head. Do you have anyone in the house that can evaluate your condition?
If Maureen can contact you directly …we might be able to send over some help for an intervention.
Send over an ambulance…Honestly…I’ve tried to comprehend but I am not able to process most of what you state.
I think a total lobotomy might be in order.
Top School
November 6th, 2012
11:01 am
@ Private Citizen said
Hey Top School
It is a little different when you are on the inside looking out.
I agree with you. You’ve got health care and the kids don’t. It is a little different.
Maureen can you interpret what this means??
I don’t get it.
Does @Private Citizen drool on the keyboard while making up these responses.
Nothing said seems to be moderated or held in the safety net on that end.
Private Citizen
November 6th, 2012
1:55 pm
Top School, Let me try and make this real clear for you. In Georgia, as well as the rest of the United States, there is no basic system of health care for everyone. Yes, you can get health care is you sign documents and then put yourself in financial jeopardy, gets thousands of dollars in bills for basic services. Full Stop. Do you comprehend and follow me so far? If you have any doubts about this, walk down your street and ask the people at 10 houses or homes if they have health coverage. Likely five of them do not. Maybe you live in some super-professional environment where everyone has the good life. Where I live most of the people do not have health coverage. The girl at the counter of the pet store does not have health care coverage. How do I know this? Because she is telling her worker friend what they just did to her financially when she needed to go see the doctor, basic girl stuff. Full Stop. Are you with me and do you comprehend so far?
Career Georgia government school teachers tend to have health care. They pay about 30% of the cost of it, which is still a lot of money and the state (or somebody) pays the rest. Anyway, teachers (on the “inside”) tend to have health coverage. Many families and students (on the “outside” of the system arrangement) do not. Do you follow me? So yes, if you are on the “inside” and part of the government system, and you are looking “outside” – say, at the girl who works at the pet store “Pets, Inc.” etc. who does not have health coverage, than yes, it is diffierent. And it is different in an important and materials way. You’ll get annual check ups and follow up. She’ll pay $500. for her pap smear out of her $9./hour pay from “Pets, Inc.” That’s more that a week’s pay for some simple medical procedure. God help you if need anything more because you just went bankrupt.
As a government teacher “inside” the system, I found it uncomfortable to work with students and parents who are “outside” of the system of wellness services. I am found it uncomfortable to work with so many of my colleagues who were comfortably middle class due to their government “inside” position and expressed no care or concern whatsoever that they lived in a different caste with very different reality from many of the children and families that they were supposed to “serve.” Now, are you with me so far and do you comprehend what I am expressing to you? If you do not, then I guess that is just the way it is.
There is a saying about travel being the best remedy for bigotry. You should try it some time. It might give you perspective. I am referring to travel outside the United States to the other 99/100 countries that have public health care for all of the citizens, just like roads and water. I suggest you start by going to Brazil. It won’t be too expensive and you would have a good time. While, there you may with to note that all of their citizens, including students, families, and school teachers, can go to the doctor without a hassle and without paying out 2 weeks salary for a basic medical procedure that is part of healthful living. Do you comprehend and follow me? Do you “get it?” You have said “I don’t get it” so I am making effort for you. If you like I can draw some diagrams, scan them and post to a picture site if you would help you to comprehend or otherwise “get” what I am telling you.
As far as when you do not understand something or relate to it, telling people that they need to go to the hospital or insane asylum is calling discrediting your opponent and it is not considered to be ethical. That’s your business, not mine, but you should be informed. You should also be informed that in times of revolution and such, these methods have been used to try and stop dissent. I can understand if you do not like what I say, but you seem to have an issue with free speech and expression and the literally do the “discredit” routine. I really have no point to make, but you should be informed that there is a plentiful history attached to this type of thing. I am think you do not know this, as you seem to shut down quickly and claim non-comprehension. Hey top school, the next time you use your health insurance policy I want you to think of me and half of the people who live on my street.
Private Citizen
November 6th, 2012
2:09 pm
Top school, As far as I can recall, I have not every drooled on a computer keyboard. I do enjoy “Rat Fink” graphics, though. http://www.ratfink.com/rat-fink-art.php
I’m glad that you mentioned it. I absolutely insist that you view the documentary “Crumb” about Robert Crumb. He came from an interesting family. This documentary is pretty obscure. I saw it in a theater in Manhattan when it first came out and was in it’s initial and probably only theater run. I hope you enjoy it and you will no doubt encounter some challenges, as it is a challenging documentary for anyone to view. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_LW-xl2uCk
(btw, IMDb shows the film rated 4/5 stars. It’s not a “dud.”)
Private Citizen
November 6th, 2012
3:21 pm
Hey Top School, Why don’t you go downtown to the wrong side of Forsyth Street and ask some of those thousands of homeless people milling around down there about who’s “inside” and who’s “outside” and if there is any difference between the two. If you need help getting access to the “outside” go here http://www.meetup.com/atlantavolunteers/events/83497502/
Top School
November 6th, 2012
7:27 pm
I just think I am crazy…I still don’t get it.
I get the part of being called crazy…” You should also be informed that in times of revolution and such, these methods have been used to try and stop dissent.”
I have experienced that.
But, the rest of this…I am completely lost. I don’t think I have enough brain cells to process all of it. I tried.
I just need to nod…and agree with everything you’ve said…because I don’t get it.
When the student is ready …the teacher will appear.
I am just not ready….and don’t know if I will ever be ready.
Reminds of my friend Durwood Fincher…Double Talk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfQVaQfbR7s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=0cdyKjl7hbE&NR=1
Is this a joke?
Top School
November 6th, 2012
7:46 pm
Maureen,
Durwood is a dear friend of mine….I can send him over to try to figure this out …if you would like???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DhlWaQcOPw&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0va4piKl4Lg&feature=relmfu
bootney farnsworth
November 6th, 2012
7:58 pm
seems to me some people need to find a better place to work out the kinks in their masters thesis.
and to be reintroduced to the concepts of brevity and paragraphs
Private Citizen
November 6th, 2012
9:14 pm
Brevity, like the wording in that charter amendment ballot? -I about fell over cawing when I saw how they wrote it / presented it. I was still laughing in the car as I drove away (from the voting place). No lines where I live! The poll workers outnumber the voters 2 to 1.
Private Citizen
November 6th, 2012
9:53 pm
Top School, Here’s a reply for your friend.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK9hK82r-AM#t=1m35s This is called using an “infix” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infix which is a language system so that only your own group knows what you are saying, basically a form of code.
The lady at the post office knew what I was talking about. She said, “There’s a lot of dead-beats. I don’t want to pay for their health care.” I mentioned to her that it costs less to do it the right way, but I think she was in Twitty City. She was so self-centered and gauging by her accent, she might have been on the Twitty Committee. http://www.flickriver.com/photos/popkrazy/3541009698/ She is actually a pretty good example of what I was talking about, someone with a “government job” who has health care and nothing but contempt for the rest of the populace who are beneath her. And this is from a postal worker, not the most complex job.
Stephanie Tyler
November 7th, 2012
12:07 pm
Yes, Mike it is THE WONDERFUL children they are FOCUSED on! What about the many needy?????
Top School
November 7th, 2012
12:21 pm
Count me out…nod nod …eye roll.
LOL Way above my intelligence.
DW
November 9th, 2012
7:57 pm
Rep. Lindsey-Where were these same parents when North Atlanta didn’t make AYP 5 years in a row? Where are these same parents now when North Atlanta needs to address its graduation rate?