Ohio+Could+Adopt+Parent-Trigger+Law

= Columbus schools hope to shape 'parent trigger' takeover process =

Superintendent isn't sure of role, but she wants city to be trial site
= = =By Jennifer Smith Richards= =//Published in the Columbus Dispatch//= =//5/5/11//= = = = = = = =Volunteering to be the pilot site for Ohio's "parent trigger" provision means that Columbus schools will get to shape how parent-forced reform works, the district's superintendent says.= =It's not an act of heroic sacrifice on behalf of urban school districts, Superintendent Gene Harris said yesterday.= ="It looked like this legislation is going to happen anyway, regardless. ... So if you're going to do this, it makes some sense that an urban district that might have this parent trigger enacted in it might help to develop some reasonable process around it," Harris said.= ="We're not attempting to take a bullet for anybody," she added, referring to a comment on Tuesday by state Rep. W. Carlton Weddington, a former Columbus school-board member, who criticized the idea.= =Gov. John Kasich's two-year budget proposal included the measure, which would give parents the power to force changes on long-struggling schools. On Tuesday, a committee of lawmakers limited its scope to one pilot site - Columbus City Schools. Under that revision by the House Finance Committee, the Ohio Department of Education would later recommend how to expand it statewide.= =The provision still would need the approval of the House and Senate.= =Some groups have said limiting the law to a trial district weakens it too much. Others have lauded Harris for offering Columbus as the trial site.= ="It's commendable that she's engaging - she's not just standing back and condemning," said Mark Real, president and CEO of KidsOhio, a Columbus nonprofit group that has studied the district.= =The "parent trigger" would apply to schools that rank in the state's bottom 5 percent in academics for three consecutive school years. If a majority of a school's parents sign a petition demanding change, the school would be forced to accept the reform the parents propose, be it converting into a charter school, replacing at least 70percent of the staff or turning over operations to an outside group.= =The lowest-performing 5percent of schools would be identified using performance-index scores, which measure how well students do on state tests. Applied to the past three years of school data, fewer than 50 schools in the state fall into that category. Columbus would have been the only district in Franklin County with trigger-eligible schools.= =Harris said she's not clear on what, exactly, it would mean to be the parent-trigger pilot site. Does it mean the district would agree not to fight parents' wishes? Or would it mean the district would choose a school and encourage parents there to take the reins?= ="I can't say because I haven't had any direct conversation with the legislative body about this portion. It's open to interpretation," Harris said yesterday.= =**jsmithrichards@dispatch.com**= = = = Previous coverage =
 * =[|Columbus schools to test state's 'takeover' plan] (May 4)=

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