By Ashleigh Costello
EAGnews.org

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma State Senator David Holt is proposing a “parent trigger” law that would allow parents to drive change in low performing schools, reports News9.com.

Under most parent trigger laws in the nation, a majority of parent s of students in failing public schools are allowed to force significant changes in school staff or transform the school into an independent charter school.

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Holt said the movie “Won’t Back Down” motivated him to take action.

“You leave that theater charged up, inspired and armed with the tools to make change,” he said.

The movie features Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis as frustrated parents who team up to transform a fictional Pittsburgh school into a high performing charter school using a parent trigger petition.

Seven states, including California and Texas, already have parent trigger laws in place. More than 20 states have considered adopting similar legislation.

“If you have parents in chronically failing schools who are that motivated to turn things around, that’s inspiring,” said Holt. “We as policy makers should facilitate that.”

Despite widespread support from parents, parent trigger laws are despised by teachers unions.

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“If we’re going to come in and say we’re going to turn around the school and the number one thing is all staff leave, that one size fits all does injustice to the great teachers that are in the building right now,” Ed Allen, a member of the American Federation of Teachers, told the news site.

State Superintendent Janet Barresi disagrees. Barresi recently announced her support for the proposal.

“It really lets the parents customize what may be the best fit for that school and it gives them the ability to move the needle in an environment where things might have been dragging for a while and they have not been able to see progress they want to see,” said Damon Gardenhire, communications director for the State Department of Education.

Holt plans to introduce the legislation next year.