Metro Council members get educated on school trigger law - WSMV Channel 4

Metro Council members get educated on school trigger law

Members of Metro Council's Education Committee were brought up to speed Monday night on Tennessee's parent trigger law by the Directors of Charter Schools for Metro and the State Board Of Education.

The law, which has never been used in Tennessee, allows an under-performing public schools to be converted into a parent-controlled charter school. In order to do so, 60 percent of parents or teachers have to sign a petition and it must be approved by Metro's School Board before the trigger can be pulled.

Education committee members asked for the meeting so they could advise constituents who want to look further into the law.

Council Member Emily Evans told Channel 4 News she walked away from the meeting with one important question.

"We heard tonight a lot of what parents would like to see, happens as a result of a trigger, could happen without a trigger. So why aren't we doing those thing? That's a question on my mind, and I hope that question will get answered," said Evans.

The law gained a lot of traction in Nashville recently after a movie titled Won't Back Down had a special screening at Opry Mills. The movie is a drama about a true story of a group Pittsburgh parents who took over an under-performing school.

Evans said she recently polled parents who attended a meeting on overcrowding at Julia Green School. Evans said 75 percent of the parents at the meeting wanted more information on the trigger law.

Copyright 2012 WSMV (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.