NASHVILLE, Tenn.- When it comes to educating children Councilwoman Emily Evans says other than magnets Metro Schools doesn't provide enough quality options.
"Then it comes down to the question of what do you do when you don't get into a magnet school," Evans said. "And those options are not very attractive to a lot of parents and in some cases they're impossible."
After years of conversations, Evans is organizing meetings to learn more about the parent trigger law. The law would allow a traditional school to be transformed into a charter with 60% approval from parents or teachers.
"Running a charter school is difficult," Matt Throckmorton, Executive Director of the Tennessee Charter Schools Association said. "Anybody who has done that can attest (that) it's very difficult. The real value that I see here is if you have a large group of parents saying we want reform, it's going to require, it's going to force discussion about reform."
Parents would have to identify a charter school operator and submit an application to the district.
"So you're going to have to put together a really solid board of directors, a great application, an academic model and operational model," Throckmorton added.
The flexibility given to charter schools, some parents say is what makes the option so attractive.
"Principals being able to hire and fire (and) make resource decisions," Evans explained. "Having their own budgets. Doing all the things we know make for successful schools."
Parents want input and options that challenge their child at every level.
"What I envision is a school that has options available for every kid who wants to achieve at the highest level and makes those things easily and readily available," Evans said.
On October 1st at 6:30 pm parents will gather at Hillwood High School and hear from district leaders about what options Metro provides to families. On October 15th Metro Council's education committee will meet Metro and state leaders to specifically discuss the parent trigger law.
