Parent trigger laws: Part of school reform’s ‘silly season’

10-13-2011

Guest blog by Mark Phillips/Washington Post

One of my earliest recollections as a high school teacher is of a meeting in which the chairman of my department angrily fired a pencil across the table at the leader of a parent group. The parent was demanding a voice in setting our department’s curriculum. While my department chair’s behavior was straight out of a black comedy movie, his voice was clear: “Curriculum should be left to the experts. A parental voice is out of the question.” A few weeks later, prior to my first parent-teacher night, I received opposing advice from two faculty members. The first told me to speak for the whole allotted time and leave no time for parent questions. The second told me that this was an opportunity to develop a good relationship with parents and that they were my best potential allies, not the enemy. I took the latter advice. He was right. (more...)

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Parent trigger laws: Part of school reform’s ‘silly season’

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