L.A. SCHOOL BOARD APPROVES NEW PARENT TRIGGER RULES
BY TERESA WATANABE, L.A. TIMES | HTTP://LAT.MS/1ATLEKU
September 10, 2013, 9:59 p.m. :: Pioneering guidelines to help Los Angeles Unified school staff and parents navigate the complex and controversial process to overhaul failing schools under the state parent trigger law were approved Tuesday by the school board.
The 2010 state law gives parents at low-performing schools the right to force out school staff, close their campus or reopen as an independent, publicly financed charter.The district guidelines, approved on a 5-2 vote, marked the first effort in the state to tackle concerns that parents may not always receive accurate or objective information about the status of their schools or the parent trigger process.
The new guidelines require the district to hold public meetings to present information about any school targeted by a parent petition campaign but bar any advocacy either way. The information presented will include five years of the school's student test scores and other data, a summary of improvement attempts and an analysis of the success or failure of those attempts.
In a new initiative, the district will offer training for staff on how to build trust and work with parents to identify campus needs and boost performance.