Landmark California school law wins key court ruling

Sacramento Bee ^ | 10/19/12 | Dan Walters

[SmithL]

Gloria Romero grew up in Barstow, the daughter of a railroad worker, and like many of the desert community's young, left for the big city – in her case Los Angeles, where she earned advanced degrees, and became a college professor and later a Democratic state legislator.

By happenstance, however, Romero's most important legislation – empowering parents to take control of failing public schools – is making its first impact in Adelanto, just a few miles from Barstow.

This week, a San Bernardino County judge ordered Adelanto's school board to stop stalling and grant the charter school petition of parents in the Desert Trails Elementary School.

The decision's timing was exquisitely ironic.

It came as a movie inspired by the Adelanto case and another in Compton, "Won't Back Down," was running in theaters – portraying the low-income parents in heroic terms and their foes in the educational establishment, including unions, as villains. And it came during the fiercely fought campaign over Proposition 32, which would curb political fundraising by unions, with Romero as a high-profile advocate.

[Kay]

I’m confused. I’ll have to reread it in the morning.

[entropy12]

Here in WA state, we will be voting on charter schools proposition on election day NOV 6th.