Latest Stupid Education Fad: Parent Trigger Laws

In education, every year, every semester and sometimes, every week, there is the next biggest and stupid education fad.  Whether it is learning without books, no rules education or let the kid learn at their own pace, most education fads are quickly found to be found to dumb and it quietly goes away for at least 1 generation.
The latest fad, this time, and I think this is a conservative idea, is trigger laws.  Trigger laws allow parents to fire teachers and principal if they get the majority of parents to agree.

From MSNBC: On its face, the idea sounds so simple: if a school is persistently failing, give parents the power to change it. But the reality of putting that notion into practice is proving challenging, at best.

In the last two years, California, Texas and Mississippi have passed so-called "parent trigger" laws. In each, the law stipulates that if at least 51 percent of the parents of children enrolled in a school sign a petition, they can trigger change. The laws vary in terms of the specifics, but in general, the new law allows parents at persistently failing schools to fire the teachers and principal, and in some cases, turn the school into a charter school instead. Twenty-two other states are considering giving parents the same kind of power....
 Backers of the "parent trigger" laws say they were born as a way to give parents the right to intervene if the system to which they entrust their children is in a downward spiral. The laws offer a way to vent anger and frustration, and effect real change, they say.  
But there is a learning curve. Proponents are now out campaigning to remind parents the laws have to be about more than just signing a petition and hoping the rest will take care of itself. They argue the trigger attempt should be a starting point for parents to organize, rally, meet and educate themselves. They've even started handing out what they call a Parent Power Handbook, a slim pocket-size notebook with hints about how parents can stay involved and remain active in the day-to-day operations of their children's school.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44671945/ns/nbcnightlynews/t/trigger-law-put-test-compton-calif/#.UBIkdJE8VXs
First, I want to put out there that I am a teacher and belong to the teacher's union, though I am about the only conservative card carry union teacher in CCSD.
The reason why I think this is bad policy is this: Do we use taxpayer triggers if a cop is bad? How about a firefighter, lawn cutter or paper pusher?  Do we march into city hall and sign a petition and to fire all the cops and the police chief?  Of course not and that is why we elect the local representatives.
And though there is politics in education, there will also be politics in this. The fact is, most parents, especially in inner city schools don't give a rip about their kid's education. Some do, obviously, but most don't When our school tried to have parents help decide policy in our school, only 5-9 parents would show up out of 2500 kids, even though we tried to bribe the parents with food, prizes and meetings during the entire day, not just the school day. So, if you only have a few parents caring about the education, they will be the loudest and and they may want things done their way, even if it may be wrong.
I might also add is that why are only parents allowed to make a change? While they have kids in school, the entire community has a vested interest if a school is doing good or not, so why limit trigger laws just to parents? Why not a bring a wealth of experience to the table? Further, most parents in elementary schools generally are quite young- from teenagers to twenties and don't have much life experience. Why not include people like business owners, the retired, independent educators, professionals, blue collar types etc. Are their opinions any less important than parents?  Is their experience not worth a single bit in helping a school as it is with trigger laws?
It is frustrating, as a teacher and a parent, to see kids failing and I think there is much more that can be done, but Trigger Laws are not the way and like most education fads, these will soon fall by the wayside.