By Howard Blume and Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/hLix9Q
Cynthia Martinez, center, demonstrates against converting McKinley Elementary in Compton to a charter school. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times / December 10, 2010)
December 11, 2010 - Tempers flared Friday over the fate of a low-performing Compton elementary school that has become the first target of a new law allowing parents to mandate school shutdowns or charter-school conversions through a petition drive.
Some parents are rescinding their signatures to convert McKinley Elementary into a charter school that would operate outside the direct control of the Compton Unified School District. Under the state's new "parent-trigger" law, which is being scrutinized nationwide, the signatures of at least half the parents at a campus are required in order to launch the changes.
But that 50% threshold could be at risk at McKinley. Opponents say that 50 to 60 parents already have withdrawn their support, which could push the total close to the minimum level required.
"They told me the petition was to beautify the school," said Karla Garcia, whose two children attend McKinley. "They are misinforming the parents, so I revoked my signature."
Garcia is part of a growing countermovement that began with the delivery on Tuesday of the parent-trigger petition at Compton Unified headquarters.
Parent Revolution, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit group that organized the petition drive, denied any wrongdoing. Organizers said they had collected signatures representing 62% of McKinley's 438 students. Initially, media coverage focused almost exclusively on dissatisfied parents relating grievances against McKinley, where test scores rank in the state's lowest 10% of schools, even when compared with schools that serve students from similar backgrounds.
The school's Parent Teacher Assn. held two meetings Thursday in which parents said they had been harassed or deceived into signing.
On Friday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a supporter of the parent-trigger effort, took the other side, condemning alleged "intimidation tactics" by charter opponents at McKinley.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa weighed in with similar views. The mayor was flanked by parents and petition organizers Friday as he visited the home of a Compton petition signer to praise the effort and condemn what he described as harassment by opponents.
"It's particularly alarming to see these parents resort to the kind of intimidation, the kind of smear campaigning, the kind of rumor-mongering that is all too reminiscent of the way bad employers try to intimidate working people," Villaraigosa said.
Parent Revolution, which is led by state Board of Education member Ben Austin, had arranged for Villaraigosa's appearance. But the visit sparked angry reactions from about two dozen parents and Compton leaders. Some demonstrators chanted "No charter school!" and carried signs reading, "Our Kids Are Not for Sale" outside the home where the mayor spoke.
Parent Revolution had targeted Compton and McKinley for its first organizing effort. The group also decided that the petition would stipulate a charter conversion and it selected the charter operator, Celerity Educational Group.
"I am highly offended by an outsider coming in telling people here how to handle my children or handle my school," said Lee Finnie, a pastor and parent of three McKinley students.
Finnie and other petition opponents cited McKinley's recent progress, noting its rising test scores and new principal. The school's 77-point two-year rise on the state Academic Performance Index puts it among the most rapidly improving schools in the state.
"Why blow up something that's improving?" Finnie said. "Rome wasn't built in a day."
The school has made "excellent progress," said Olivia Fuentes, a specialist in the division for school improvement with the Los Angeles County Office of Education.
The school's defenders said the petition organizers had failed to acknowledge the school's gains.
Jessy Herrera, an active member of McKinley's PTA and school site council, complained that organizers had followed parents to worksites, laundromats and restaurants, and repeatedly visited and called homes, even after parents declined to sign on. Other parents said they were told if they didn't sign, the school would close or they would be deported.
But Austin dismissed the charges as familiar tactics used to discredit attempts to bring charters onto traditional campuses.
His group also claimed deportation threats from charter opponents. And he accused McKinley teachers of threatening fights, badmouthing petition supporters in front of their children and urging parents to rescind their signatures to preserve teacher jobs.
Oralia Velasquez, mother of a fifth-grade McKinley student, said she was among those who continued to support the charter conversion.
McKinley test scores are still dismally low, she said, and her research into Celerity showed an impressive program. "They've had years of opportunity to make a difference and they haven't," she said. "I'm tired of it. This is my opportunity to make my voice heard and make a change."
additional coverage from google news
Compton Parents Are First To Enact Parent Trigger
Huffington Post (blog) - Dec 10, 2010
This week has been a big one for education reform. On Monday, former DC Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee launched her new project, StudentsFirst. ...
Parents Pull the Trigger in Compton and Nationwide
Huffington Post (blog) - Dec 8, 2010
Compton parents pulled the trigger this week by voting for a new educational option. According to the Los Angeles Times, parents at McKinley Elementary ...
AM Top News: Parents at California school use new law to force education overhaul
The Star-Ledger - NJ.com - Dec 8, 2010
For more than a decade, California's Compton Unified School District has had its share of problems. Dismal test scores, distracted management, ...
"Giving power to the parents - this is what this is all about," Schwarzenegger said in a conference call Tuesday with reporters.
more by Arnold Schwarzenegger - Dec 7, 2010 - Los Angeles Times (1 occurrences)
Parents present signatures to take over a Compton school
Los Angeles Times - Howard Blume, Teresa Watanabe - Dec 7, 2010
Using the new 'parent-trigger' law, they take the first step in demanding a charter operation at McKinley Elementary. As her daughter Alexandra looks on, ...
At California School, Parents Force an Overhaul
New York Times - Jennifer Medina - Dec 7, 2010
COMPTON, Calif. — By Marlene Romero's count, her son has had just one effective teacher in his five years at McKinley Elementary School ...
Blogs
Using the Parent Trigger Law
Life360 Now (blog) - Dec 10, 2010
I like to think with the release of films like Waiting for Superman and Race to Nowhere, parents are starting to become more aware of their child's ...
'Parent Trigger' Supporters Face Intimidation Tactics in School Reform Battle ...
LA Weekly (blog) - Patrick Range McDonald - Dec 10, 2010
UPDATE: LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says school reform in Compton "isn't about pointing fingers or ...
Chicago Parents File School Lawsuit, Los Angeles Parents Pull the "Trigger"
Care2.com (blog) - Cynthia Liu - Dec 9, 2010
Two specific schools that aren't performing, two different states, and two ways parents are reaching for a solution. When things go wrong at your kid's ...
United States
CA parents use new law to demand school turnaround
San Jose Mercury News - Christina Hoag - Dec 7, 2010
COMPTON, Calif.—Chanting "yes we can!" and "si se puede!", a busload of parents on Tuesday became the first in California to try to ...
California's Parent Revolution
Wall Street Journal - Dec 7, 2010
It could be a shot heard 'round the education world: This morning in Compton, California, more than 260 parents will pull the first ever "parent trigger" in ...
Parents hope to force sweeping changes at Compton school
Los Angeles Times - Teresa Watanabe, Howard Blume - Dec 6, 2010
In the first test of a new law, they want to have a charter company take over McKinley Elementary. Ismenia Guzman, who has led efforts to persuade McKinley ...
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McKinley Elementary School Principal Fleming Robinson responds to parents, two days after they exercised the Parent Trigger Law. The law, passed in January, ...
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