By Ben Velderman
EAGnews.org

ORLANDO, Fla. – On Saturday, hundreds of mayors from across the nation came out it in support of “parent trigger” laws, which empower parents to force major changes in the way low-performing public schools operate.

“The U.S. Conference of Mayors … unanimously endorsed ‘parent trigger’ laws aimed at bypassing elected school boards and giving parents at the worst public schools the opportunity to band together and forces immediate change,” Reuters reports. Those changes could include firing all the teachers and administrators, or turning the failing school over to a private management company.

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While the vote is mostly symbolic – only state legislatures have the power to pass parent trigger laws in most circumstances – it underscores the growing realization among elected officials that parents deserve educational options for their children.

“Mayors are moving in a new direction on education, one that’s more consumer oriented … and focused on serving parents and giving them choices,” said Kenneth Wong, a political scientist at Brown University.

Mayors of cash-strapped cities also see parent trigger laws as a way of reining in the financial demands of powerful and uncooperative teacher unions, Wong said.

Reuters notes that parent triggers already exist in California, Texas and Louisiana, but “the concept has never successfully been used to turn around a school.” Parents in two California communities have used their trigger option, only to encounter “ferocious opposition” from the local teacher unions, often in the form of lengthy lawsuits.

Reuters also notes that many Democratic mayors favor the trigger laws, an indication of the deteriorating relationship between the Democratic Party and the teachers unions.

Gloria Romero, California director of Democrats for Education Reform, called Saturday’s vote a “landmark” that confirms “we are on a path to change,” Reuters reports.