A group of local parents will host an informational forum Feb. 2 that will explore a changeover of Point Loma High School (PLHS) to charter-school status. Sponsored by the Point Loma Cluster Schools coalition, proponents believe they can exercise rarely-used “parent trigger” legislation to gain control of the 85-year-old institution — a move that concerns many local educators. The forum will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Barnes Tennis Center, 4490 West Point Loma Blvd. and feature three prominent charter-school advocates. Point Loma cluster schools include PLHS, Correia and Dana Middle schools and Barnard, Cabrillo, Dewey, Loma Portal, Ocean Beach, Silver Gate and Sunset View elementary schools. The combined enrollment at the 10 sites is more than 6,000 students. The “trigger” in this scenario is PLHS’s status as a program improvement school for the last two years and its state academic performance index (API) test score below 800 points. Last year’s API score at PLHS was 758. The school will become trigger-eligible if it remains in program improvement (PI) and fails to score 800 or above on tests later this school year. The “parent trigger” has apparently been pulled only once before at McKinley Elementary in Compton, a suburb of Los Angeles. In that case, allegations of improper statements by petition signature gatherers led to a request by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for an investigation by the state attorney general. The California Board of Education also examined complaints according to a Dec. 2010 article in the Los Angeles Times. Schools enter PI because, for each of two consecutive years, they did not make adequate yearly progress (AYP) in the same content area schoolwide or for any statistically significant subgroup, or on the API or high school graduation rate schoolwide. Also, schools in the bottom 5 percent statewide qualify, which is not the case at PLHS. Schools leave PI after demonstrating success in meeting AYP and other requirements for two consecutive years. All of these regulations are part of “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB) legislation. One theme echoed by all parents, teachers and school administrators interviewed was that each wants the best possible education for students. The differences, however, center around how to provide it. The panelists for the forum: • Paula A. Cordeiro, dean of the School of Leadership and Education Sciences at the University of San Diego • Ben Austin, executive director of Parent Revolution (www.parentrevolu-tion.org) and a member of the California State Board of Education • Larry Rosenstock, the founding principal of High Tech High School. PLHS parent Matt Spathas, a charter proponent in the Point Loma Cluster group, said two years have been spent measuring parental opinions through surveys and meetings. He listed four “parent trigger” options for PLHS: • Become a charter school • Seek further autonomy within the SDUSD • Form a separate school district for the 10 PLHS Cluster schools. • Maintain the status quo. Spathas listed several factors he believes are preventing needed school reforms in San Diego: • Seniority: Charter schools do not hire or pay teachers by seniority, but by measured effectiveness. He cited High Tech High, which received 1,400 applications for 50 teaching positions, to show charters can hire the best available teachers. • Teacher evaluation: Spathas noted that great advances have been made in using student achievement data to measure teacher performance. In San Diego Unified School District, the Bargaining Agreement (contract) prohibits use of student progress and test data for teacher evaluation. • Unions: Despite “lots of great reforms taking place as part of President Obama’s ‘Race to the Top’ program,” a strong union is preventing reforms in San Diego, Spathas believes. Teacher unions have countered by insisting they, as classroom experts, have a voice in changes rather than having reforms dictated to them. PLHS staff members said they are looking forward to attending the forum but remain wary of some charter issues. “Many of our staff members and I plan to go and listen,” said Bobbie Samilson, PLHS principal. “We are all educators and learners with a desire to do the best for our students.” Others are clearly wary. “The speakers listed are clearly pro-charter,” said veteran PLHS math teacher Ian Law, the PLHS teacher representative on the Pointer Association board. “So there is potentially a real lack of meaningful dialog discussing both sides. As an educator, I have agreements and disagreements on each side of this issue.” Law has daughters whose attendance at PLHS covers the next five years. Samilson also noted the pro-charter nature of the forum. “Since the meeting just discusses the charter option from one perspective, it would be important for us to have follow-up meetings to learn all sides of any issue before making a decision. That is what we teach our students,” Samilson said. Teachers spoke of the size of SDUSD and the difficulties in getting projects and funding through a system they view as bloated. A charter or separate school district for cluster schools could streamline this process, they said. Other PLHS staff members, some with 30 years of experience, expressed serious concern about a charter’s effect on their retirement, while many were uncomfortable without union safeguards. Speaking on condition of anonymity, several staff members questioned the validity of the school’s API scores, saying students are weary of repeated standardized testing and some put little or no effort into the process. “Kids have asked me, ‘Does this test count on our grades?’ and ‘Will this test affect my graduation?,’” said one teacher. “When I told them ‘No,’ their response was, ‘Then why should l try?’” To read more about the Point Loma Cluster School’s position, see links on the group’s website at www.point-lomacluster.com.