After three hearings in the House, the Parent Empowerment Act, aka parent trigger, went before the Senate Education Committee on Monday afternoon, where it passed on a party line vote.
The legislation allows parents to reassign students to better-performing local schools, convert a failed school into a charter, or contract with a state Board of Education-approved private entity to improve the school.
Supporters like Senate sponsor Kelli Stargel (R-Lakeland) said the bill literally empowers parents to have more control over the direction of their children’s education, but opponents say that there are already sufficient options for such parents.
This article appears in Mar 28 – Apr 3, 2013.
