California: A parents group in Los Angeles is using the state's landmark parent trigger law to force the school district to reform a low-performing school. (Los Angeles Times). More from the Associated Press and Education Week. A national report finds the state continues to lead the nation in charter school growth, despite funding disparities and access to facilities (Huffington Post). Oakland district officials say the American Indian Model Schools, a charter network touted for its academic successes, suffers from "corrupt fiscal practices" and should be shut down (Oakland Tribune).

Michigan: A new report finds the typical Michigan charter school student school gained more learning in  a year than a district school peer, amounting to about an additional two  months of reading and math learning (The Detroit News).

Texas: Key state lawmakers are looking at the franchise tax on businesses as a vehicle to fund private-school scholarships for low-income students (Austin Business Journal). Critics of a proposed voucher program say all it will strip the public school system of funding and state leaders should instead restore $5.4 billion cut from education in 2011 (KUT News). Similar arguments in stories from KX11.com and the Associated Press.

Florida: Magnet schools continue to grow on the school choice landscape (redefinED). A new bill would require emergency response agencies to notify private schools just like they do public schools (redefinED). In response to the Newtown tragedy, private schools and charter schools are considering additional security measures too (redefinED).

Georgia: Tax credit scholarships are used at private schools that bar gay students (New York Times). (more…)

New Hampshire: The ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State file suit against the state's new tax credit scholarship program (New Hampshire Public Radio). More from Associated Press.

Maine: State Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen points to problems in the process after the state charter school commission rejects four of five applicants (Bangor DailyNews). Gov. Paul LePage tees off on the commission and the teachers union after the rejections (Portland Press Herald). Supporters of virtual charter schools are also upset (Portland Press Herald). The teachers union blasts LePage for wanting to lift the cap on charter schools (Portland Press Herald). Public school administrators say charters should have to feel effect of  education budget cuts too (Bangor Daily News).

Kansas: Vouchers, tax credit scholarships and an expansion of charter schools are all expected to be part of the legislative discussion this year (Wichita Eagle.)

Kentucky: A bill is filed to allow a limited number of charter schools to open in the state for the first time (Kentucky Public Radio).

California: Parents at Desert Trails Elementary School finally succeed in using the  parent trigger law to get a charter school to take over their school (Los Angeles Times). More from Hechinger Report and Education Week.

Georgia: A state representative is planning to file a parent trigger bill for the session that begins today (Associated Press).

Mississippi: Business leaders are backing the legislative push for charter schools (Associated Press). Racial divisions and mistrust are at play in debate over charter schools (Hechinger Report). (more…)

California: 1,000 charter school parents and administrators rally to protest a proposed moratorium on charter schools (Los Angeles Times). The school board subsequently votes down a measure aimed at more oversight (Los Angeles Times). The school board at the center of the parent trigger fight could see turnover (Education Week).

Florida: Charter school supporters make a pitch for equitable funding and independent authorizers (redefinED). Charter school enrollment now tops 10 percent of total public school enrollment in eight Florida districts, a new report shows (redefineED). In the wake of Tony Bennett's defeat in Indiana, Jeb Bush's Foundation for Excellence in Education pushes back against Common Core critics (redefinED).

Tennessee: Gov. Bill Haslam's task force finalizes its recommendations for a statewide voucher program, agreeing it should be limited to poorer students (timesfreepress.com). More from The Tennessean and the Memphis  Commercial Appeal.

Washington: The Seattle Times says the charter school ballot initiative has passed, even though opponents have yet to concede. Spokane Public Schools officials say they want to open a charter school (Huffington Post).

Illinois: Public school officials in Chicago plan to shut down poor-performing charters (Chicago Tribune).

Georgia: One of the state's bigger school districts considers creation of a full-time virtual school (Gainesville Times).

Colorado: Douglas County's voucher program heads back to court today, with both sides battling over a lower court ruling that it's unconstitutional (Denver Post).

Washington: Supporters of a charter school ballot initiative raise $5 million in six weeks, including another $2 million from Bill Gates (Associated Press).

California: A judge rules that parents who won a parent trigger battle can open a charter school next fall (Los Angeles Times).

Florida: A new initiative to put more students into STEM fields taps students in traditional, magnet and charter schools (redefinED). A long-troubled Imagine charter school continues to test the patience of the school board in Pinellas County (Tampa Bay Times). In Palm Beach County, thousands of parents and students show up for a school choice showcase that includes magnet and charter schoools (Palm Beach Post). 

Pennsylvania: Republican lawmakers postpone discussion on a proposed statewide authorizer for charter schools (Pittsburgh Post Gazette). The U.S. Department of Education questions how state education officials revised rules to gauge whether charter school met academic standards (Philadelphia Inquirer). A bill to toughen oversight of charter schools dies in the state House (Associated Press).

Georgia: State senate candidates are divided over charter schools and a charter school ballot initiative (Douglas County Sentinel).

New Jersey: Charter schools tied to the highly regarded KIPP network are gearing up to expand (NJSpotlight.com).

Louisiana: An effort to recall lawmakers who supported the state's new voucher program fizzles (Associated Press). (more…)

Choice at the RNC: Mitt Romney drops a line about school choice in his big speech, while Jeb Bush and Condoleezza Rice say more (redefinED). A former voucher student from Florida joins Jeb Bush on stage, saying in an interview later, "Because I had choice in my education, I was granted a better life (redefinED). (Image from minnesota.publicradio.org)

Louisiana: A statewide teachers union accuses the Black Alliance for Educational Options and other school choice groups of supporting a pro-KKK educational curriculum. (Choice Media)

Washington: The political landscape around charter schools has changed as voters get ready to vote on a charter measure for the fourth time. (Seattle Times)

Florida: A powerful lawmaker and school choice supporter is puzzled by charter schools that want to set up in one of the school districts in his legislative district. (St. Augustine Record)

Ohio: Hundreds of special needs students are benefiting from a voucher program. (Cincinnati.com) (more…)

Texas: State lawmakers talk vouchers and hear about expanded learning options in Louisiana and Florida (KVUE.com).  A judge rules that a charter school support group's concerns can stay in a lawsuit over state education funding. (Austin American Statesman)

California: A local school board won't allow a school to be converted into a charter school, even though that's what parents using the state's parent trigger law wanted. (Education Week)

Florida: The superintendent of the state's biggest school district says the educational environment is now driven by choice.  (redefinED)

Indiana: The state's public school districts are marketing themselves with billboards and door-to-door campaigns in an effort to persuade parents to steer clear of vouchers and private schools. (Associated Press)

New Hampshire: The state's "Blaine Amendment" becomes an issue in the race for governor. (Concord Monitor)

Michigan: A community debates as a charter school operator begins to run all of its schools. (Detroit News)

Missouri: An appeals court rules that a judge was wrong in ordering charter schools to pay millions to the Kansas City School District. (Associated Press)

Pennsylvania: A private foundation will manage 20 financially struggling Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. (Education Week)

Washington D.C.: Despite growing enrollment, charter schools are overshadowed by traditional public schools in funding and other matters. (Washington Post)

"We're living in a revolutionary moment," says Ben Austin, executive director of the Parent Revolution, as we begin our interview for redefinED's inaugural podcast. And the moment to which he refers has been marked by California's "parent trigger," a law that has upended the status quo at one Compton school in a way that few education measures can do with such sweep. A majority of parents at McKinley Elementary wanted a charter operator to come and take over their struggling school, just as the parent-trigger law allows, and what Austin and the Parent Revolution fought for, and the Compton Unified School District has done everything possible to make their job harder. The struggle will be left to the courts to resolve, but Austin does see success in the very nature of what the law has sanctioned.

The trigger has allowed parents to essentially organize and effectuate change at a bargaining table that has been the exclusive province of school boards and teachers unions. Whatever the outcome at McKinley, the law has transformed relations between school boards and the parents at their failing schools, said Austin, a former member of the California State Board of Education, who also served Los Angeles as a deputy mayor from 2000-2001 as well a variety of roles in the Clinton White House. "Already there are parents across California that are organizing to get to 51 percent with no intention of at least initially turning the signatures in," he said. "They're organizing to bargain. They're organizing to basically say, 'You haven't listened to us for years, but now we have the power to fire you, so you have to listen to us.'"

We talked with Austin about the launch of the Parent Revolution and how its role as a parent union might manifest itself at the bargaining table. What else did we ask?

Why the parent trigger, and not a more collaborative approach? "It's people with power that want a collaborative approach ... Power and Money is the language that the other side understands, and if you're not speaking that language, they're not going to listen to you."

Can the PTA fulfill the role as a parent union? "We've had good experiences with the PTA, and we've had bad experiences with the PTA. We believe there needs to be a lot more "P" in the PTA."

Click here to listen to the rest of the conversation, which runs about 24 minutes.