Ben Austin

'We the Parents' Premieres in Beverly Hills

We the Parents, the new documentary about California's cutting-edge Parent Trigger law, premiered in Beverly Hills last night, with an expert panel discussing the ups and downs of Parent Trigger battles in Compton and Adelanto, where parents sought to gain control of their children's failing schools ... More >>

The Parent Trigger Warriors of Watts: How a Special Forces Hero and a Group of Moms Took Back Weigand Elementary

First 'Parent Trigger' School in United States Opens Doors in California

For the first time in the United States, a school has been fully transformed by a Parent Trigger law. That historic moment happened yesterday in California when parents opened Desert Trails Preparatory Academy in the Mojave Desert town of Adelanto. "For the parents and children of Desert Trails," s ... More >>

A Bi-Coastal, Schoolyard Brawl Officially Begins Over California's Parent Trigger Law

The folks at Parent Revolution, the guiding force behind California's Parent Trigger law, are not going to take it anymore. For a while now, education expert and NYU professor Diane Ravitch, who's based in New York City and maintains an influential blog, has loudly banged the drum that the Parent T ... More >>

Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti Stop Hesitating and Support Parent Trigger

It took a while, but Los Angeles mayoral hopefuls Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel finally met with parents and students on Monday at Los Angeles Unified's chronically failing 24th Street Elementary School, where the district's first "Parent Trigger" took place. The Parent Trigger, which is viewed as ... More >>

Eric Garcetti Flip-flops to Support Parent Trigger School Reform After Media Pressure

Los Angeles mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti flip-flopped days before the March 5 primary election, embracing Parent Trigger, the dramatic law now spreading nationwide that lets disgusted parents take over bad schools through petition. On February 15, when L.A. Weekly pressed the five top mayoral ca ... More >>

Mayoral Candidate Kevin James and Education Reformers Speak Out About Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel's Silence on Parent Trigger

UPDATE, 5 p.m.: Eric Garcetti breaks silence on Parent Trigger. After the jump. UPDATE, 4 p.m.: Wendy Greuel tells L.A. Weekly she supports the Parent Trigger. Eric Garcetti is now the only mayoral candidate who remains to be silent. After the jump. After Los Angeles Unified School District board ... More >>

Failing 24th Street Elementary Targeted for First Parent Trigger in Los Angeles Unified School District

Read "Los Angeles Unified School District Braces For First Parent Trigger Take Over." Parents of children who attend the failing 24th Street Elementary School in West Adams dropped a signature petition on Los Angeles Unified School District officials in downtown today, pulling the first Parent Trig ... More >>

Los Angeles Unified School District Braces For First Parent Trigger Take Over

Los Angeles Unified School District will finally become a target of a Parent Trigger, a California law that allows parents to take over a failing school in which their children attend, according to L.A. School Report. Parents at 24th Street Elementary School, with the help of Los Angeles-based educ ... More >>

Historic Parent Trigger Approved in California by Adelanto School Board

It's official. For the first time ever in the United States, a California school district has approved a Parent Trigger, which allows parents to make changes to a failing school. The landmark decision by the Adelanto School District to allow Desert Trails Elementary School in the Mojave Desert to ... More >>

Can Kate Anderson, Mom of Twins, Fix LAUSD?

Assembly District 50: Facing Tough Political Battle, Betsy Butler and Friends Point Fingers and Slam L.A. Weekly

We always know we're sounding the right notes on a story when a politician and her "friends" start crying foul in such an over-the-top way that it makes us laugh out loud. Such is the case with California Asseblywoman Betsy Butler, who's running for Assembly District 50 in a tight race against Santa ... More >>

Molly Munger's Prop. 38 Is Spoiling Jerry Brown's Prop. 30. She's Not Sorry.

Her husband Steve English and the Advancement Project fuel her toughness

Parent Trigger Movie 'Won't Back Down' Inspired by L.A. Weekly Feature Story

You may have seen a trailer for the new film Won't Back Down, starring Maggie Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis and Holly Hunter. The movie's subject matter revolves around education reform and a thing called the Parent Trigger, a California law that allows parents to takeover a failing school. From what a re ... More >>

'Parent Trigger' Scores First-Ever Victory at Desert Trails Elementary: Judge Issues Historic Ruling Against Adelanto School District

See also: LA Weekly print stories "California's Parent Trigger" and "Parent Trigger's Second Try." For the first time in American history, parents with kids at an extremely low-performing school -- in this case, Desert Trails Elementary in Adelanto -- have succeeded in filing a petition to seize it ... More >>

Why California Democrats Protect Sex Abuser Teachers

How Betsy Butler and Mike Eng torpedoed Alex Padilla's sex-pervert bill, SB 1530

In Major Political Split, U.S. Conference of Mayors Supports Parent Trigger Law

The Parent Trigger, the California law that allows parents to take over a chronically failing school, got a major political boost Saturday when the United States Conference of Mayors endorsed it as part of its education platform. In the national political landscape, this is big news. Democrats in t ... More >>

Eric Bauman v. Gloria Romero in Assembly District 46

Pulling the Trigger on Failing Schools

Parents aim for revolution — again

'Parent Trigger' Plan B: Charter School to Open 2 Blocks From McKinley Elementary, Draining Students and Forcing Back-Door Takeover

Google MapsChurch of the Redeemer in Compton: It's no Hogwarts, but it'll do for now.​You'd be hard-pressed to find a school district as opposed to the new-age charter-school movement as Compton Unified. Not once have district officials accepted an application from a charter hopeful, despite t ... More >>

School Reformer Yolie Flores Departs LAUSD to Fight From Outside

She forced through the most radical idea in recent lausd history. So why’s she leaving for a Bill Gates start-up?

Governor Jerry Brown's New California Board Of Education Appointments Could Disable Compton 'Trigger'

A new State Board of Education might be Brown's way of pulling the trigger on charters​Jerry Brown announced his California Board of Education appointments yesterday -- and they're sure to throw a wrench in the spokes of the Parent Trigger movement. For a group of parents in Compton, this wil ... More >>

Compton's Parent Trigger Feud

PTA opposes charter school. Moms sick of McKinley Elementary fight back

'Parent Trigger' Petitioners Fend Off Accusations From Compton Unified, McKinley PTA -- Not California Board Of Education

​Updated after the jump: VIDEO PROOF that we're so totally misinformed. Originally posted at 6:20 a.m. Over the last few days, a lightning storm of hear-say and hyperbole has lit up the sky over two groups of Compton parents. Major media outlets reporting the conflict have tended toward one ... More >>

TRIGGER ISSUE

California's Parent Trigger

How McKinley in Compton became the first school taken over by parents under a radical new law

Compton Parents Petition to Take Over Chronically Failing Public School Through 'Parent Trigger' Law, Send Shock Waves Throughout the Nation

​UPDATE: L.A. Weekly readers sound off on yesterday's Parent Trigger, no charter school has been approved at Compton Unified. After break. UPDATE: Compton Unified School District Acting Superintendent Karen Frison releases statement about today's Parent Trigger. After break. UPDATE: Governo ... More >>

Steve Zimmer Anti-Reform, Yolie Flores For Reform: The Stark LAUSD School Board Drama Unfolding After Historic ACLU Settlement

Anti-reformer Zimmer ​Steve Zimmer, elected by "sophisticates" on the Westside, is starkly shown as the leading anti-reformist on the LAUSD Board of Education in a fascinating LA Times story about how United Teachers Los Angeles got snookered by the pro bono American Civil Liberties Union, Pub ... More >>

Koreatown's New Robert F. Kennedy Campus 'Most Expensive Public School Ever'

The old Ambassador.​Does pumping more cash into schools result in better educations for L.A.'s children? We're about to find out ... When the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools are unveiled next month at the site of the infamous Ambassador Hotel the opening will represent "the inauguration o ... More >>