Moms and Dads Take On Failing Schools There was a time, as James Takata's matter-of-fact documentary "We the Parents" recalls, when moms and dads got involved with their children's education by helping out with bake sales and showing up at parents" night. But there was also a time when the American public school system was not something to cry yourself to sleep over. The first "parent trigger" law, which allows adults whose children's school is underperforming to demand change (usually turning the institution into a charter school), was passed in California in 2010. A group called Parent Revolution quickly went into action, looking to Compton, Calif., a mostly working-class city known for gang violence, for its test case and going door to door there to get others involved. Mr. Takata deserves praise for refusing to oversimplify the situation, although his film doesn't always bring the conflict fully to life. But there is inherent drama: a heartbreaking mix-up about a date on a petition, desperate bus travel to Sacramento, and grown men and women crying after their victory. The first three schools created under the law opened last month. Still, audiences may feel mixed emotions when at the end of the film a woman sums up her feelings about the campaign, declaring, "Now I know if a school ain't doing good, we can change that."