POLICY BRIEF

Giving Parents a Role in Turning Around Failing Schools:

The Parent Empowerment Pilot Program

What is the Parent Empowerment Pilot Program?

Based on a parent empowerment law first enacted in California in 2010 that quickly
became known as the Parent Trigger Act, the Parent Empowerment Pilot Program is a law that
would give parents the ability to petition their school district to employ a turnaround strategy at
a failing school. Similar laws have been enacted in California, Connecticut and Texas. Parent
trigger laws have also been proposed in Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Main,
Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
The theory behind the Parent Empowerment Pilot Program is that not only should parents
be given the opportunity to compel the school district to make a change at a failing school, but
also that parents should be able to have input on what changes are made. While the Parent
Empowerment Pilot Program establishes a mechanism for compelling the District to employ a
specific intervention at a failing school, it also creates a bargaining chip for parents and helps
them come to the table and be involved in turning around their school.
What Schools May Parents Petition for a Turnaround Plan?
Parents may submit a turnaround petition for a school designated as persistently lowachieving (PLA) by the State. A school is labeled as a PLA school by the State after it has failed
to make adequate yearly progress for four consecutive years. Under No Child Left Behind
(NCLB), schools are judged on student performance in up to four areas: ELA, Math, Science,
and graduation rates. Each school must meet progress goals specifically established for the
school for both the entire student population as well as for specific groups of students (minority
students, English language learners, economically disadvantaged students). If it fails to meet
these progress goals for all subjects and all sub-groups of students for four consecutive years, the
school is deemed persistently low-achieving by the State.
As proposed, New Yorks Parent Empowerment Pilot Program law would only apply to
schools in the City of Buffalo.
What May Parents Petition the District to Do For a Failing School?
The Parent Empowerment Pilot Program would permit parents to select one of the four
Race to the Top approved turnaround models and petition the District to employ this model in

Giving Parents A Role

Page 1

the failing school. Under Race to the Top, there are four approved models: Transformation,
Turnaround, Restart and Closure.
Under the Transformation Model the school must implement a rigorous and transparent
evaluation system of teachers and administrators that weighs student performance growth on
assessments. Schools must also develop rewards for teachers and school leaders who have
increased student performance, identify for improvement those who fail to increase performance,
and remove those who, despite development and assistance, continue to fail to make progress.
Under the Turnaround model, the school would need to implement many of these same strategies
while also replacing the principal and at least half of the existing staff.
Under the Restart model, the school must shut down, then reopen as a charter school or
partner with a charter operator or education manager. Finally, there is also a Closure option
where the school is simply closed and the students moved to other district schools.
How Can Parents Begin and Circulate A Petition?
A petition must be formally started by up to five lead petitioners, meaning individuals
who are ultimately responsible for the petition. The petition may then be broken into
segments and circulated in smaller parts: the petitioners need not collect all signatures on a
single, unified petition. When the petition is submitted, it must be accompanied by a separate
document identifying each of the lead petitioners and an identified lead contact person for the
petition. Questions and concerns over the veracity and authenticity of the petition will be
directed to the contact person.
What Information Must Be Collected From Signing Parents?
Parents signing the petition must include the following for each signature: printed name,
date, students name, students date of birth, students current grade. The petition may
additionally request the signers address (including city and postal code) or other information: if
the petition does request such additional information, it must inform the signer that this
additional information is voluntary and not mandatory.
What Information Must the Petition Convey to Signing Parents?
The petition must include the name of the school and the selected intervention model
being petitioned for. It must also include an affirmation clearly informing the signing parent
that their signature on the petition signifies their support for the selected intervention model at
the identified school.
If the lead petitioners are circulating the petition with assistance, financial or otherwise,
from any agency or organization, these entities must be prominently identified on the petition.

Giving Parents A Role

Page 2

The petition must also include specific information about the selected intervention. The
selected intervention (Transformation, Turnaround, Closure, Restart) must be listed on the
petition. The petition must also include the description of the selected intervention included in
the Parent Engagement Pilot Program law. The law requires this in an effort to prevent confusion
or misleading information being included about what is required of each intervention.
For a Restart intervention, under which the school would be closed and then restarted
under the operation of a charter or educational partner, the petition must include the name and
brief information about the charter or education partner if one has been identified or selected.
The lead petitioners are NOT REQUIRED to select or identify a charter or educational partner: if
they do, however, they must identify this organization in the petition.
How Many Parents Must Sign the Petition?
Parents representing at least 51% of the students currently enrolled in the school must
sign the petition. The District must provide, in writing, to any person who so requests, the total
enrollment at the school and how many signatures would be needed for a valid petition.
Alternative proposals to the Parent Engagement Pilot Program have also permitted
parents of children enrolled in feeder elementary schools to sign the petition for a PLA high
school. The current proposal in New York does not include such a provision because Buffalo
does not have any sort of feeder system: Buffalos high schools are open enrollment.
When Can Parents Begin to Circulate A Petition? Submit A Petition?
A parent petition may be submitted to the District at any point after the school has been
designated as persistently low achieving. A school is designated as persistently low achieving
under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) after it fails to make adequate yearly progress for four
consecutive years.
The Parent Engagement Pilot Program law does not set a time when parents may begin to
circulate a petition, however a few limits impact when it is practical to circulate a petition.
Because a petition cannot be submitted until the school has been designated as persistently low
achieving and because the petition must be signed by parents representing at least 51% of
currently enrolled students, a valid and successful petition could not, realistically, be circulated
more than one year before the school was to be designated as persistently low achieving.
What Protections are Given to Signing Parents?
The Parent Empowerment Pilot Program law protects parents (as well as signature
gatherers) from harassment, threats, and intimidation related to the circulation of or signing a
petition. This protection extends to prohibiting undue influence from the subject school or

Giving Parents A Role

Page 3

school district: the school and school district cannot expend funds to assist or impede the
campaign to collect signatures.
The law also protects potential signing parents from undue influence from signature
gatherers, who cannot offer or give gifts, rewards or any other tangible incentives in return for a
signature; signatures gatherers are also prohibited from making threats, taking coercive action, or
making false statements or promises to parents.
If the Restart Model is Chosen, What Rights do the Existing Students Have?
If the petition selects, and the District employs, the Restart model, under which the
school is closed down and reopened with a charter operator or educational partner, the students
currently enrolled in the school must be given the first opportunity to enroll in the reopened
school. The charter must serve the same grades as the school it replaces.
Can The District Reject The Petition?
Yes, but in order to reject the petition the District must offer a detailed and written
explanation of why it cannot feasibly employ the petitioned turnaround plan for the school. The
District must also produce its own turnaround plan for the school: it cannot merely reject the
petition and continue to operate the school in the same way.
The District could also reject the petition on the grounds that not enough signatures can
be verified or authenticated. If this is the case, the District must immediately notify the contact
person for the petition and allow them 60 days to assist the District verify the necessary
signatures. The contact person must also be given immediate notice and the opportunity to
rectify other errors in signatures.
The District must either approve the petition or notify the contact person of
insufficiencies or errors within 40 calendar days of receiving the petition; the District must also
notify the State Commissioner of Education within 15 days of its receipt of a petition and again
within 5 days after its final disposition (e.g. approval or rejection) of the petition. The
Commissioner has the authority to review each and every final disposition of a petition and, if he
finds a rejection of a petition without sufficient justification

Giving Parents A Role

Page 4