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Judge: Count ‘parent trigger’ signatures

March 23, 2011 by

Signatures on a “parent trigger” petition must be counted, ruled Judge Anthony J. Mohr, saying Compton school district violated parents’ rights by “imposing an onerous signature verification process.”

In the first use of California’s parent trigger law, a majority of McKinley Elementary School parents petitioned to turn control of the low-performing school to a charter operator, Celerity.

Mohr said the verification process that the district had demanded, including presenting a photo ID and a personal interview with administrators, violated parents’ first amendment right to petition their government.

Mohr suggested the signatures be counted by a neutral party, such as the League of Women Voters, but the district rejected that recommendation.

The state board of education is expediting the law, allaying proponents’ fears that the new board, with fewer charter school advocates, would undercut parents’ rights.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: , , ,

Parents claim right to tattoo the kids

January 10, 2010 by

Arrested for tattooing six of their children, a Georgia couple says they’re good parents. The children, aged 10 to 17, wanted the tattoos — small crosses — to be like their parents, says Patty Jo Marsh.

“I’m their mother,” Patty Jo Marsh said late Saturday. “Shouldn’t I be able to decide if they get one?”

Actually, there’s a biological mother who turned in Marsh and her husband, Jacob Bartels.

The custodial parents used a donated machine to do the tattoos, breaking Georgia law on amateur tattooing and on tattooing children under 18.

At least 10 police officers searched the family’s home on Dec. 28, Marsh says, and she and her husband were arrested. They were each charged with cruelty to children, reckless conduct and tattooing, something Marsh they didn’t realize was illegal.

All the children are back home.

I hate tattoos, including the small butterfly tattoo on my daughter’s ankle, which she got to celebrate turning 18. But if you’re looking at the permanent damage parents can do to their kids, this seems like small potatoes.

Via Core Knowledge Blog.

Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: ,

Mom fights school's biking ban

October 5, 2009 by

A New York mother is challenging the middle school’s ban on riding a bike to school.

Janette Kaddo Marino rides three miles to the Saratoga Springs school with her 12-year-old son Adam. She thinks it’s safe.

“They really don’t have the right to tell me how to get my kids to school,” Marino told FOXNews.com, emphasizing that she always accompanies her son and is “very safety-oriented.”

The district also tells students not to walk to school. But administrators admit they have no authority to ban biking or walking.

Via Nothing To Do With Arbroath.

Filed Under: Children, Parenting Tagged With: , , ,