HPxxxx, LD xxxx, item xxx, 125th Maine State Legislature
An Act To Enhance Parental Roles in Education Choice
aka "The Parent Trigger"
PLEASE NOTE: Legislative Information cannot perform research,
provide legal advice, or interpret Maine law.
For legal assistance, please contact a qualified attorney.
An Act To Enhance Parental Roles in Education Choice
CONCEPT DRAFT SUMMARY
This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208.
This bill proposes to adopt laws that allow parents to choose alternate models of education for schools attended by their children. It empowers low-income and minority parents to control the education model their schools follow. This is accomplished by way of a petition process currently referred to as the "Parent Trigger"1 based on legislation adopted by California3 2009
In essence, upon initiation by eligible parents, a school district must undertake one or more of various "school intervention models". The current proposed list of models includes2:
Closure - Close the school, fire the staff, and send the children to better-performing schools
nearby.
Restart - Convert the school to an independent charter school.
Turnaround - Replace school leadership and grant new leaders more flexibility.
Transformation - Turnaround model with added layers of bureaucratic oversight.
The list may also include school vouchering or scholarships; digital learning or other models of education as requested or recommended.
By submitting this bill as a concept draft, it is intended to initiate the conversation in Maine about the potential benefit of the Parent Trigger in empowering parents to make better informed decisions about the educational opportunities for their children.
1The Parent Trigger - A Model for Transforming Education, The Heartland Institute, Chicago
2Federal Register/ Vol. 74, No. 221 / Wednesday, November 18, 2009 / Notices - Appendix C, School Intervention Models, pp. 59866-7.
If half of the parents eligible to sign the petition do so, the district must act. The intrinsic simplicity of the process makes it easy to engage parents in a campaign to change their children’s school.