School Reformers: Senate Fell for Union 'Lies' and Elitism in Killing Parent Trigger

A national parent rights group said it was disappointed, but not surprised, by the Florida Senate's failure to pull a "trigger" on education reform Friday.

"From AFT's secret PowerPoint to NEA's unprecedented Florida lobbyist invasion, we have seen time and time again that those who have power now are willing to do virtually anything to stop parents from ever having power," said Shirley Ford, an organizer for the Los Angeles-based Parent Revolution.

Ford assailed the teachers union for marshaling "armies of lobbyists to defend an indefensible with money and lies."

Dozens of state and national leaders from both parties -- ranging from former Gov. Jeb Bush to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to Los Angeles Mayor Antonoio Villaraigoso -- support triggers as a community-based tool to restructure failing public schools. So do the Black Alliance for Educational Opportunities and the Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options.

The House passed its version of trigger legislation, but in the wake of an NEA lobbying blitz warning of a "corporate takeover" of public education, senators began denigrating parents at Florida's "F" schools as unsophisticated.

Among the eight Republicans breaking ranks to join a united front of union-friendly Democrats, Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, took to her Twitter account to post derogatory claims of parent apathy. Her tweets implied that parents who dont speak English or those who are not educated themselves are unable to have a say in their kids' education at their local failing school.

"The defenders of the status quo fell to the same tired, straw man arguments and conspiracy theories that they have trotted out in state after state in desperate attempts to thwart parents by any means necessary," Parent Revolution said in a statement.