At the Texas House Public Education Committee hearing on parent trigger on Tuesday, May 19, 2015, Dinah Miller, Richardson Council of PTA legislative chair, expressed her disappointment with Texas PTA support of SB 14 stating that it was not voted on by PTA members nor mentioned at the Texas PTA legislative day at the Capitol. Raise Your Hand Texas's David Anthony, Dr. Julian Vasquez-Heilig and CVPE parent, Claudia Rios's testimony spoke out forcefully against parent trigger as well.
- Raise Your Hand Texas's David Anthony testimony is summarized here
- Dr. Julian Vasquez-Heilig's testimony, "a one-way street to private control- SB14" is posted on his blog, cloaking inequity here
- Claudia Rios's testimony is at 4:08 here
- Dinah Miller, Richardson Council of PTAs lege chair gives her testimony here
From the testimony, it appears that neither the state nor national PTA has a position in support of parent trigger. The parent trigger bill is NOT parent empowerment.
Once a parent signs the petition, he/she loses rights that have been guaranteed to parents, students and teachers under the education code like class size caps in grades k-4, due process rights for students regarding the right to appeal a disciplinary decision, the right to a certified teacher among others.
Once a parent signs a “parent trigger” petition to "charterize" their neighborhood school possibly with certain conditions they like, parents subsequently will have no further rights regarding their school’s management, the charter itself or even the school's existence.
TASB summarized the hearing as follow: "SB 14 (Taylor, L.) would amend current parent trigger law in Texas to allow parents of students enrolled at a campus with an unacceptable performance rating for three consecutive years to submit a petition to the commissioner requesting reconstitution, repurposing, alternative management, or closure of the campus. A petition seeking alternative management could specify the process to be used to select the organization or team to assume management of the campus, which the commissioner would be required to use. If the process is not specified, the organization or team would be selected by the parents. If the petition is signed by the parents of a majority of students enrolled at the campus, the commissioner would be required to order the specific action requested. Reps. Alma Allen (D-Houston) and Mary Gonzalez (D-Clint) asked Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston), who laid out the bill, why it was needed if these options are already available to the commissioner, who may take into consideration input from communities. Raise Your Hand Texas CEO David Anthony testified against the bill noting that there are other measures that would serve the purpose of improving schools. Dinah Miller, a parent in Richardson ISD and legislative chair of the local PTA, testified against the bill because it actually takes power away from parents. She noted that she was dismayed that Texas PTA supported this bill in a previous hearing. TASB submitted testimony against the bill. Parents asking for more parental involvement testified for the bill."https://t.e2ma.net/message/ha2zl/1xxzbb
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