L.A. Gives Parents 'Trigger' to Restructure Schools

New rules will give parents of children in struggling schools the power to make changes.

Who should decide when it’s time to overhaul a chronically underperforming school?

Soon, in Los Angeles, parents can.

Under new rules released last week by the Los Angeles Unified School District, parents whose children attend some of the lowest-performing schools in the system will have the ability to force the district to launch new reform initiatives at troubled campuses. The rules—written by Superintendent Ramon C. Cortines and his team—are part of a series of regulations being crafted to govern the district’s new school choice policy, which will allow outside groups, such as charter school organizations, to operate schools where student achievement has not...