Latino-Led Parents Take Charge of Their Kids' Pulbic School Following 'Parent Trigger' Law

Yellow Lockers (Photo : Steven Depolo / Creative Commo)

A group of parents from California have successfully used the state's 'Parent Trigger' Law to enact a reformation of a Desert Hills Elementary. This is the first time in United States' history this has happened to a public school in California.

The public school will now be turned into a charter school. This doesn't mean that the school will be taken private - it will still continue to receive federal funding. What it does mean, however, is that the now the school is free to write its own curriculum as well as employ and fire staff without the watchful eyes of a union.

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"There was a lot of kids that were not getting the basic needs in school," Cynthia Ramírez told Fox & Friends Friday. "We have sixth graders that still can't read or write." 

Desert Hills Elementary is located in the Adelanto, California. Adelanto is a small town with a population of only 30,000. The city has 58-percent Latino population.

The parents of Desert Hills Elementary are not simply crying wolf, and their concern is supported by evidence from the state.

California State Records show that 72 percent of the sixth graders in the school cannot read at their grade-appropriate level. Another 70 percent are not at grade-level math.

The parents were backed by nonprofit group Parent Revolution, and were led by Ramirez, who collected signatures and dissents.The law was enacted by Superior Court Judge Steve Malone, who decided that the unhappy parents had met all the requirements of the 'Parent Trigger' Law. 

President of the Board of Trustees Carlos Mendoza told Reuters that he plans on appealing the ruling. He backed it up by saying that at least a 100 parents who signed the petition wanted to take back their names. However, a judge has declared that people who signed the petition could not redact their names.