Progressives support a parent’s “right to choose” when it comes to children’s lives before birth.

But, after children are born, liberal activists take an entirely different view: They refuse to acknowledge parents should be able to determine where children are educated.

Nonetheless, parents around the country are fighting for quality education programs, such as in Los Angeles, which has among the lowest high school graduation rates in the nation. Robby Soave of The Daily Caller News Foundation reports that parents have just scored a victory for choice, as the local Board of Education has supported parental efforts to open a charter school by implementing an innovative new rule.

The Los Angeles Board of Education signed off on a parent-led plan to turn a failing public school over to a private charter company this week — the city’s first use of the controversial “parent trigger” law.

The 5-1 vote granted parents in downtown Los Angeles final approval to convert 24th Street Elementary School into a charter school. The new school will be better equipped to handle demographic changes to the area, parents said.

The parents held after-school meetings at each others’ houses for more than a year in order to craft a worthwhile charter proposal.

“It’s been very hard and a challenge, because education is something that is so personal to everyone and yet it’s a universal issue,” said Chinmaya Misra, one of the parent leaders, in a statement.

The Los Angeles-area teachers union, which strongly opposes parent trigger, released a statement criticizing the board’s decision.

“We believe parents do not want a private charter corporation to take over 24th Street Elementary, which is exactly what is happening … as a result of Parent Trigger,” the statement read.

The board also authorized an expansion of an already existing charter school in Los Angeles.


 
 0 
 
 0