TALLAHASSEE -- The controversial parent trigger bill died a dramatic legislative death Tuesday the same way it did last year: in a surprise tie vote in the Florida Senate during the final week of session.

“The second time is just as sweet,” said Florida Education Association President Andy Ford, who helped lead the charge against the proposal. “I’m happy that the Legislature stepped up and did what’s right for the state of Florida.”

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, would have let parents demand major changes at failing public schools, including having the school transformed into a charter school.

Supporters said it would have empowered parents to play a greater role in their child’s education. But opponents, including the teachers’ union and a coalition of parent groups, saw the proposal as a way for private charter-school companies to take over struggling schools.

Most observers expected the parent trigger to win approval in the upper chamber Tuesday. It had been watered down by an amendment enabling school boards to override parent demands. The language addressed concerns about local control raised by state Education Commissioner Tony Bennett and the Florida School Boards Association.

Still, six Republicans joined the 14 Senate Democrats in opposing the bill: Sens. Charlie Dean, of Inverness; Nancy Detert, of Venice; Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, of Miami; Greg Evers, of Baker; Rene Garcia, of Miami; and Jack Latvala, of Clearwater. It was déjà vu for Dean and Detert, who were part of the bipartisan coalition that defeated the proposal last year.

Supporters of the trigger bill believed they had the votes to pass the bill this time around because several senators who had opposed it were no longer in the Legislature due to term limits and redistricting. The chief advocate, former Gov. Jeb Bush, told reporters as late as February that he was confident the trigger would become law.

Bush’s prediction seemed likely when the House approved the bill earlier this month.

But controversy followed the trigger as it made its way to the Senate floor.

Last week, a pro-trigger video surfaced, purporting to be produced by a grassroots group known as the Sunshine Parents. It later came to light that the video was produced by Parent Revolution, the California organization that has been using its resources to promote parent trigger laws nationwide. What’s more, the Sunshine Parents were found to have strong ties to Bush’s education foundation.

Simultaneously, questions emerged about an online petition allegedly signed by 1,300 Florida residents in support of the trigger. The Herald/Times reached 360 of the people whose names appeared on the document; 42 denied having signed it and 10 said they were uncertain if the signature was their own.

The education nonprofit StudentsFirst has said the signatures are authentic. Still, the petitions and the Sunshine Parents were used against the bill during Tuesday’s debate on the Senate floor.

Sen. Jeff Clemens, a Lake Worth Democrat, pointed out that the Senate had seen “one or two parent organizations come forward and tell us that they want this bill.”

“Then, we came to find out that the signatures that were on these so-called petitions actually weren’t signed by people who support this issue,” Clemens said. “How can we trust this process that allows parents to petition to change their schools into a corporate school instead of a public school?”