Mark Holscher

Holscher is representing a group of parents pro bono in a groundbreaking case that is testing the state's 2-year-old "Parent Trigger" law for the first time.

Under the law, if 50 percent of parents in persistently underperforming schools sign a petition, their district is required to implement one of four turnaround models.

In January, a group of San Bernardino County parents did just that in an attempt to gain control of the underperforming Desert Trails Elementary School.

"Many kids can't read or write at grade level," Holscher said. "This would give parents the right to keep control of the teachers and how the school is run. It's pretty strong medicine."

But the going hasn't been easy.

After the parents petitioned the Adelanto School District, officials invalidated a large number of the signatures and denied the petition.

In April, a writ was filed by Holscher on behalf of the petitioners in the San Bernardino County Superior Court.

The complaint alleged, among other things, that teachers' unions and other interests engaged in a campaign to coerce parents to rescind their petitions in violation of the Parent Trigger law, thereby causing the petition to drop below the required threshold of signatures. Diaz v. Adelanto School District, CIVVS-1201650 (San Bernardino Super. Ct., filed April 5, 2012).

In July, a decision came down in the parents' favor.

The court ruled that the district had abused its discretion and ordered the school board to accept the petition, Holscher said, and allow the parents to immediately start soliciting and selecting charter school proposals.

On Aug. 17, the board denied the petition on the ground that for financial and other reasons, it couldn't implement the requested reform.

Holscher has since filed a motion to compel the order.

As the battle continues, he said he considers his time well spent on what is becoming a national movement.

"The parents do not all have Ph.Ds or college degrees," he said, "but they know what's best for their kids and care about it deeply."

- PAT BRODERICK