CA Parent Trigger news and editorial

BIG news from Ben Austin yesterday on CA's parent trigger!

Incredible news this morning for the parents of McKinley Elementary -- just minutes ago, a Superior Court judge in Los Angeles issued a temporary restraining order against Compton Unified, halting the current illegal petition "verification" process which as we all know was simply designed to disenfranchise parents and throw out their petitions.  This is a huge first victory for the parents in what has now become a full-blown legal battle as they fight for their children. 

Earlier this morning, parents also filed a formal lawsuit against the district for violating the constitutional rights of both them and their children.  

That lawsuit against Compton Unified (Murphy et al v. Compton Unified) details not only violations of the Parent Trigger law itself, but violations of the constitutional rights of parents and children by the Compton Unified School District. Having already denied the children of McKinley their constitutional right under the California Constitution to an "equitable public education," the school district has subsequently infringed on the federal and state's constitutional First Amendment rights of parents to petition their government to remedy this violation of their children's rights "by crafting an onerous and burdensome process" intended not to verify their signatures, but to simply throw them out.

We will keep in touch over the next few days as this story continues to develop.  While the struggle is not yet over, this is an enormous first victory for the constitutional rights of parents to fight for the quality education their children are entitled to under the Constitution of the State of California.