This coming Monday, I will ask our community to stand behind the brave parents of Compton who are fighting for their kids' future – parents and children under attack by the moral and operational malfeasance of the Compton School District.

These parents, principally African-American and Latinos looking to give their kids a chance to fulfill their God-given potential through a high-quality public education, are using their rights under the California Parent Trigger law to reform one of the worst performing elementary schools in the state.

This will be a tough battle between champions for kids and the entrenched special interests that have destroyed the Compton School District – literally putting it under California State supervision for chronic failure of its schools.

Now that parents at McKinley Elementary in Compton have used the law to change the school to a high-performing charter, the school district is undertaking what is, on its face, an utterly illegal attempt to quash California's education reform state law.

On Monday we begin our campaign. And we will not stop until the law is respected – and our kids have the opportunity of an excellent public education that they all deserve.

From Parent Revolution (full disclosure, I am an unpaid member of the Board of Directors of this non-profit advocacy group) here are the facts of what is going on:

Compton Unified Decides to Shred Petitions, Disregards and Disenfranchises McKinley Parents

COMPTON – On Wednesday, January 19, Compton Unified School District (CUSD) outlined an unprecedented and illegal process to “verify” the over 270 Parent Trigger signatures at McKinley Elementary school. 

After six weeks of silence and inaction, Compton Unified has finally decided that rather than actually verifying whether sufficient valid petitions have been submitted as required by law, essentially shredding the petitions and inventing a whole new law. Every parent who wants change at McKinley must now show up at the school on either Wednesday or Thursday of next week, endure a mysterious five-minute interview with district employees, and declare their support in this interview for change. In addition, they must present photo identification at this interview, a requirement that even supersedes the requirements to participate in state and federal elections in California and would undoubtedly have a chilling effect on a community of people of color and immigrants.

Any parent who is unable or unwilling to complete this process for any reason — such as being sick or unable to get out of work on such short notice — will no longer be able to count towards the 61% of parents who have demanded change under the Parent Trigger law, regardless of whether they have already met the legal requirements to do so under the Parent Trigger and the State Board emergency regulations that are already in place.  Parent Revolution and McKinley Parents for Change denounced this tactic as an unethical, illegal tactic that discards the entire Parent Trigger process and months of parent organizing.

"I'm not going to waste my time," Ismenia Guzman, a parent at McKinley Elementary said. "I signed my petition, and that's what I want, and there's nothing they can do.  This is clearly not about ‘verifying’ anything – it is about the district making up new rules to try to throw away the petitions that we have already submitted.  Every part of this process – the late notice, the narrow window of time, and the requirement for photo identification – indicate that the primary purpose is simply to take away our rights, and we will not stand for it.”

Community leader, Pastor Kerry Allison, spoke against this blatant violation of McKinley parents’ rights: “It is with great regret that Compton School District is attempting to disenfranchise the parents who want change for their children. This new move by the district has surreal connections to the historical denial to voices demanding change. In the month that we celebrate "The Dream," Compton School District is denying the dream of parents who desire a good education for their children.

Senator Gloria Romero, who authored Parent Trigger, similarly denounced Compton Unified’s improper attempt to add further requirements to the law:  “The march towards justice is long and winding, and the dreams of parents in Compton for the educational success of their children is but the latest chapter in this historic fight,” Senator Romero said. “As the author of this law, I am deeply saddened that these tactics are being used to try to suppress its use.  This latest attempt to disenfranchise parents who have boldly stood up for change is in violation of both the spirit and the letter of the law.  I call upon Compton Unified officials to immediately change course.  As for me, I will continue to stand with these visionary Compton parents all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary, in order to simply be able to use the laws of the State of California to advocate for the educational opportunities of their children.”

The non-profit, Families in Schools also spoke out against this new process: “Families In Schools believes the Compton Unified School District is not acting in good faith by  circumventing the intent of the regulation.  The parent trigger is intended to empower parents with the right to seek a better educational experience for their children.  By pursuing such action, the district apparently hopes to intimidate and punish them for uniting and speaking out on behalf of their children.  Shame on them!”

Parents at McKinley are demanding that CUSD actually verify their signatures using precedent for  signatures verification processes in California, a process that never includes disqualifying signatures if a petitioner fails to show up at a given place and time with photo identification. Parents will likely refuse to participate in a process that automatically disenfranchises large numbers of their fellow parents who have already joined together to demand change and met all the legal requirements to do so under the law. McKinley Parents for Change and Parent Revolution will be hosting a joint press conference, Monday, January 24, 2011, at 11am at the Church of the Redeemer in Compton (E. Rosecrans and S. Cahita Aves.).

This verification process announcement comes just two days after the Associated Press reported on official complaints that were filed with the Office of Civil Rights by parents of McKinley who experienced lies and harassment from CUSD employees, on the McKinley campus, in retaliation for their support of the Parent Trigger petition.

Background

The Parent Trigger Law was passed last year in California and states that if a majority of parents at a failing school signs a petition, they are able to change the school’s administration, shut down the school, or have the school replaced by a charter school. On December 7, 2010, McKinley Elementary parents presented the Parent Trigger petition that included over 260 (61%) signatures to CUSD. Since then, five weeks passed without any response from CUSD board members or representatives, despite repeated requests for meetings from McKinley Elementary parents. During this time, CUSD employees have been accused of harassment and intimidation. These complaints were filed with CUSD who have, to date, never acknowledged or responded to the complaints.