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Parents at Compton Unified try making McKinley Elementary a charter school
Parents gather at a Compton backyard ready to petition Compton Unified to turn low-performing McKinley Elementary into a charter school under the new, so-called "parent trigger" law.
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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/KPCC
)
Compton Unified parent Ismenia Guzman, on right, holds receipt given by school district for petitions to turn McKinley Elementary into a charter school under California's new parent trigger law. Celerity Educational Group would run the campus as a charter if the petitions are approved.
(
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/KPCC
)
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Parents at Compton Unified try making McKinley Elementary a charter school
Parents at Compton Unified try making McKinley Elementary a charter school
Parents in Compton Unified today took steps to switch a failing school to a charter school campus. They're the first to use a new law that lets parents petition their school district for changes at a failing school. The pro-charter group Parent Revolution guided the parents.
Elizabeth and Hebert Hidalgo have three kids at McKinley Elementary School in Compton Unified. Their children are first, second and third grade.
"The way we got involved in Parent Revolution, parent trigger is Parent Revolution came knocking to our door, letting us know the new law by parent trigger. We started going to the meetings, getting together in parents' houses, helping out with the signatures, getting the parents involved to get this done."
Hebert Hidalgo has worries about her three children and their education. "The worry for me is that I want them to get a full education, the full benefits of the education, and they're just not receiving that at this moment. McKinley's been failing for three years already and they're not getting the full education they should have. We have a lot of concern about it. They're throwing a lot of activities for them, but they're just not receiving the actual education and book content they should be getting."
The Hidalgos and dozens of other parents in this area are being helped by Parent Revolution, a pro-charter school group, to turn McKinley Elementary into a charter school.
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