By Nick Berman
Annenberg Radio News
Update: The Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday voted to approve the use of the parent trigger law at 24th Street Elementary.
Parents from 24th Street Elementary School in South LA are calling for action to improve the quality of education at their childrens’ school. The parents gathered Tuesday at 2nd Avenue Park to raise awareness about their school’s performance. They are supported by the education advocacy group Parent Revolution.
One parent, Amabilia Villeda, says her daughter’s reading skills were so poor she could not pass out Valentine’s day cards to her classmates because she couldn’t read the names.
“So now my daughter is in 8th grade and reads at a 3rd grade level. What an embarrassment to the administration of 24th Street that they let her go out that way,” Villeda said.
Villeda has been working for three years to change the structure of the school. 24th Street Elementary School ranks in the bottom 2% for academic performance in the LA Unified School District.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was at the event and spoke Tuesday in support of the parents and their efforts. “I want to thank you for coming. Because we should all be here,” Villaraigosa said. “We should acknowledge that too many of our schools are failing our kids. And when parents want to come together like this, what a beautiful thing.”
Parents have filed a petition under California’s Parent Empowerment Act. The law, known as the Parent Trigger, requires that at least 50 percent of the school’s parents sign the petition. It allows parents to demand changes for under-performing schools from the Board of Education.
“And I expect this board to vote in favor of this petition, because its right. Because it’s time,” Villaraigosa said.
One of the parents’ options is to form a charter school. In the past the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) union has opposed restructuring schools into charters. In an earlier statement, UTLA pledged to work with the parents at 24th Street to improve students’ education. But UTLA says the solution should not be to remove every teacher and administrator, which it says would disrupt the education process.
If the petition is approved, 24th Street would become the first LAUSD school to be restructured under the Parent Trigger Act.
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