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Parents locked in bitter fight to take over Calif. school Families in Adelanto, Calif., are trying to become the first in the country to use a trigger law, which allows a majority of parents at a struggling school to force major changes, from firing the principal to closing the school and reopening it as an independent charter. All they need to wrest control is to sign a petition.
A group of parents in Adelanto, Calif., are trying to use the new California "Parent Trigger Law" to make changes at Desert Trails Elementary, but other parents are opposed to using the law to make the changes needed at the school, because the law would remove the current facility and the school would become a charter school.
Bret Hartman
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For The Washington Post
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Doreen Diaz, one of the parents organizing the trigger effort, helps her daughter Vanessa, 11, get ready for school. “We just decided we needed to do something for our children,” she said. “If we don’t stand up and speak for them, their future is lost.”
Bret Hartman
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For The Washington Post
Diaz’s daughter attends Desert Trails Elementary, where last year two-thirds of the children failed the state reading exam, more than half were not proficient in math and nearly 80 percent failed the state science exam.
Bret Hartman
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For The Washington Post
Vanessa Diaz, 11, cleans her room before school.
Bret Hartman
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For The Washington Post
Vanessa Diaz draws while waiting to go to school.
Bret Hartman
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For The Washington Post
Vanessa Diaz, 11, and her brother Christian, 13, wait to go to school. Desert Trails has not met state standards for six years and scores place it in the bottom 10 percent of schools statewide.
Bret Hartman
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For The Washington Post
Doreen Diaz drops off her kids at Desert Trails Elementary. It was Diaz who called the group Parent Revolution for help.
Bret Hartman
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For The Washington Post
Vanessa Diaz, left, and her friend Cindy DelVillar, 6, get in the car to go to school.
Bret Hartman
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For The Washington Post
Doreen Diaz walks with her daughter Vanessa, 11, second from right, and Ricky DelVillar, 9, left, and his sister Cindy, 6, to the front door of Desert Trails Elementary.
Bret Hartman
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For The Washington Post
Doreen Diaz walks her daughter into Desert Trails Elementary.
Bret Hartman
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For The Washington Post
Desert Trails Principal David Mobley says he is trying to keep controversy out of the classroom, but it’s not easy. “You’ve got all these outside entities with bigger political agendas,” said Mobley, who became principal in October, unaware of the tempest that was brewing.
Bret Hartman
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For The Washington Post
The school system can’t afford the parents’ demands, said Superintendent Darin Brawley, adding that state education funding is down 20 percent this year. “There’s no way we could do all those things at Desert Trails without making cuts elsewhere from other students in the district,” he said.
Bret Hartman
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For The Washington Post
Parent Revolution organizer Alfonso Flores hangs signs at the gathering spot for trigger parents. Parent Revolution rented a house on Delicious Street near the elementary school and converted it into a nerve center for the trigger parents, who spend afternoons there stamping envelopes, making phone calls and plotting strategy.
Bret Hartman
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For The Washington Post
Kids play at the Parent Revolution house.
Bret Hartman
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For The Washington Post
Volunteer Holly Odenbaugh hangs signs while kids play at the Parent Revolution house.
Bret Hartman
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For The Washington Post
Nathan Ramirez, 3, left, and Jacob DelVilla, 5, play in front of the information wall at the Parent Revolution house. The house is used as an office for the petition and also as an after-school tutoring program.
Bret Hartman
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For The Washington Post
Parent Revolution organizer Christina Sanchez works at the Parent Revolution house.
Bret Hartman
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For The Washington Post
Christina Sanchez, right, talks with a Holly Odenbaugh at the Parent Revolution house.
Bret Hartman
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For The Washington Post
Parents group members Holly Odenbaugh, left, and Cecilia Thornton check names and numbers on a petition list at the Parent Revolution house.
Bret Hartman
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For The Washington Post
Parents attend a meeting set up by organizers who oppose the pending takeover of Desert Trails Elementary by parents.
Bret Hartman
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For The Washington Post
Desert Trails Elementary parents Chrissy Alvarado, right, and Lori Yuan address a group of parents against the takeover of the school by a group of parents during a meeting. Alvarado used to be best friends with a member of the trigger group. Now they no longer chat.
Bret Hartman
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For The Washington Post
Desert Trails Elementary parent Brianna Miller, left, listens at a meeting of people opposed the takeover.
Bret Hartman
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For The Washington Post
Adriana Savastano voices her anger about some of the current teachers at Desert Trails Elementary during a meeting at the school.
Bret Hartman
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For The Washington Post
Melinda Diez, front middle, and other parents attend a meeting set up by organizers who oppose the pending takeover of Desert Trails Elementary.
Bret Hartman
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For The Washington Post
Desert Trails Elementary parent Chrissy Alvarado addresses a group of parents against the takeover. “The people behind Parent Revolution, they want to come in and take over public schools and turn them into charter schools to make money,” Alvarado said.
Bret Hartman
/
For The Washington Post
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