A Great Night for Kids and Parents (Part One)

The future for kids in California is a bit brighter today following Tuesday's election.

We applaud the broad support for public education demonstrated in the vote for Prop 30. Voters throughout California recognized that tough times require tough measures, and voted to protect funding for our schools.

Passing Prop 30 was a necessary step toward enacting a kids-first agenda in California. Because of this vote, we can now move forward with confidence that there won’t be upwards of $6 billion in draconian cuts to our schools and public safety.

Vote for Calif. Prop. 30 on November 6

“Parent Revolution is announcing its support for Proposition 30 which is on the California ballot on November 6.

“Parent Revolution stands for the simple notion that we must make every single decision in public education based on the best interests of children, not adults. This vision is only possible if parents are empowered to hold the system accountable to the interests of children. Passing Prop. 30 to prevent further draconian cuts to our schools is a vital component of a kids-first agenda right now in California.

An American First: Parents Choose

In an historic vote, parents of students at the Desert Trails Elementary School in Adelanto, Calif., became the first parents in American history to select a new operator to transform their failing school. The parents have chosen the LaVerne Elementary Preparatory Academy, which will open a newly transformed school in August 2013.

Judge Reverses Adelanto School District’s Attempt to Block Court Ordered Parent Trigger Changes at Desert Trails Elementary

Parents in Adelanto, Calif. and their pro-bono legal team from Kirkland & Ellis achieved a critical victory in their ongoing mission to transform Desert Trails Elementary School under their historic Parent Trigger petition, when Judge Vander Feer of the Superior Court of San Bernardino County ordered the Adelanto School District (District) to immediately comply with Judge Malone’s original order validating their Parent Trigger petition and ordering that the parents could immediately establish an independent charter school by the start of the 2013 school year.

Parent Revolution and AFT

In recent days, Doreen Diaz, a parent at Desert Trails Elementary School in Adelanto, Calif. has been seeking an apology from Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the second largest teachers’ union in the country.

Doreen’s request for an apology comes on the heels of a memo Ms. Weingarten distributed widely to journalists in August. In this memo, Ms. Weingarten wrote (among other misstatements):

Open Letter to Randi Weingarten from Doreen Diaz

Randi –

Let me remind you what you said in your August memo to journalists:

“Many [of the Desert Trails] parents report feeling deceived by the for-profit charter-backed organizers who came in to gather petitions. They actually sued to take their signatures back when they found out they were being used to give their school away to a charter company."

Where’s the Apology?

Doreen Diaz, from Desert Trails, Calif. is still waiting to get an apology from Randi Weingarten of the American Federation Teachers. Weingarten recently sent a memo to journalists accusing Desert Trails’ parents of being captive to for-profit charter school operators.

Doreen called Weingarten out on her lies in a piece in the Sunday edition of the Washington Examiner.

Now there’s a petition you can sign asking Randi Weingarten to apologize to the parents of Desert Trails Elementary School.

Whoppers

Doreen Diaz is calling out Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, for telling several “whoppers” about ‘Parent Trigger’ and Parent Revolution.

Parents teach us a lesson on organizing!

Parents at Haddon Avenue Elementary School in Pacoima, Calif. recently organized their own protest at one of the best teachers in the school being laid off. In the words of Esmeralda Medina, one of the parents organizing the protest:

“They [the school district] are taking away our best teachers, simply because they don’t have seniority. By doing this, they are demonstrating that what matters here is the union, and that they don’t care about the education and the quality of education they are offering our children.”

Tonight’s Presidential Debate: Parent Trigger?

Will Republican candidate Mitt Romney press President Obama to publicly support “Parent Trigger” during tonight’s presidential debate?

That’s the central thought behind a powerful Wall Street Journal editorial which suggests it’s time for the “education reform” President to use the power of the presidential bully pulpit to promote and highlight the effectiveness of “Parent Trigger” laws.

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