Rahm Emanuel, Florida Teachers' Union Tussle Over Parent Trigger

Barack Obama's former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is the latest big-name Democrat to support Parent Trigger legislation pending at the Florida Senate.

If parents find their children stuck in a school that simply isnt doing the job, we should empower them to force changes by allowing a majority of parents to legally force a failing school's transformation," said Emanuel, now mayor of Chicago.

To bring improvements to a failing school, Emanuel said the Parent Trigger law offers the option of making "administrative changes, bringing in a new operator or shutting it down and starting over.

"Giving parents this power would encourage them to play a larger role in their childrens education, and with greater power would come greater responsibility, Emanuel said.

But despite support from leading national Democrats, including Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigoso, a former teachers' union organizer, the Florida Education Association remain unmoved, saying the "Parent Trigger bill is about turning over schools to corporations for profit, not improving education for all students."