Watch CBS News

Compton Parents Vow To Continue Charter Battle Despite Petition Rejection

COMPTON (AP) — A group of Compton parents is vowing to continue a drive to force the local school district to convert a struggling elementary school to an independent charter despite the school board's rejection of their petition.

Lorena Bautista, a parent at McKinley Elementary School, said Wednesday at a news conference that the school district found any excuse to deny the petition, which was filed in December under California's so-called "parent trigger" law giving parents the right to force change at failing schools.

The Compton Unified School District board voted unanimously Tuesday night to deny the petition after finding numerous flaws, including discrepancies in the signatures and insufficiencies in the petition format.

Parents' lawyer Jeff Sinek says he is confident a court will find the rejection was based purely on pretext.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.