Louisiana Parents Gain More Say Over School Management

They can move troubled schools from recovery school districts back to local control

Parents will have more control over what entity has authority for their child's school under a bill signed into law by Gov. Bobby Jindal on Monday. The legislation allows parents to petition to shift control from some failing Recovery School District schools back to the local system, if certain benchmarks are met.

Called the "parent trigger," the legislation will give parents the ability to shift control of a school from the state-run RSD back to the local school district if the school has received a "D" or "F" grade for five consecutive years. The petition would require signatures from the majority of parents who have had children enrolled in the school in the past two years.