Reform No Easy Task

A parent revolution

The Wall Street Journal's editorial page told a riveting story Wednesday about parents in Compton, Calif., who are trying to stage a revolution in their local school, one of the worst in the city. They're wielding a new "parent trigger" law in the state to force out the administrators and bring in a charter school operator. They're learning that parents who put their children first are seen as the enemy by the education status quo. Teachers and school officials in Compton have launched a furious effort to block them from using the law to determine their kids' future. This is interesting because Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel championed just such a parent-trigger law during the campaign. Under his proposal, a majority of parents in a poorly performing school could shut down the school, bring in new administrators and teachers, and adopt a charter school or other new model.