Parents Outraged: Compton Wants Charter School

School administrators nationwide are closely watching the events unfold in California this week as angry parents demanded to close an elementary school and turn it into a chartered school system.

Parents of students attending Compton McKinley Elementary School arrived in force delivering a signed petition demanding the school district to close down and be converted to a charter school. It was the first time the California's "parent-trigger" law was initiated. Under a new law written by California State Senator Gloria Romero which was passed in January, parents can apply a "trigger" to get the school district to jump by:

• Replacing school administrators
• Forcing closure of the school
• Converting to a charter school

In McKinley's case, the trigger comes as it continues to dwell in the bottom 10% of all elementary schools in the state. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger reached out in support saying, "Giving power to the parents - that is what it is all about".

There are an estimated 1.6 million students in 5,0000 charter schools nationwide according to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. Each state caps the limit of the number of chartered schools that can be created. In California, this is a moving cap, starting at 1,250 schools and 100 new schools added to the cap each year. Governor Schwarzenegger is fighting to remove the cap so that California can get students scores up so that the state can receive Federal aid through President Obama's $4.35 billion Race To The Top program.

Charter schools are publicly funded and are under no jurisdiction by a school district. Typically, they hold a small number of students (less than 200) and cater to students with limited English proficiency skills. Most of these students are considered "at risk", come from low-income families, and perform below public set standards.

This move is a signal to all school districts in the state that if they continue to under perform, they will be closed and someone else will get the job done. That someone is Los Angeles based Celerity Educational Group.

In a press release yesterday Governor Schwarzenegger said that he was very pleased with the "A" rating given to California from the Center for Education Reform.

About Kerry Kobashi

Kerry is the founder of KerryOnWorld. He lives in Silicon Valley and has worked as an engineer and project manager. He owns Kobashi Computing a consulting company.