WAS SCHOOL DRIVE FAULTY? PRINCIPAL: CHARTER EFFORT LEGITIMATE.

Byline: Helen Gao Staff Writer

WOODLAND HILLS - Complaints about how the charter effort has been handled at El Camino Real High School have prompted an LAUSD investigation and divided teachers and union leaders, officials said Monday.

Adrienne Konigar, an attorney for the Los Angeles Unified School District, said an investigation was opened about a week ago into allegations by an undisclosed number of teachers that Principal Ron Bauer ``intimidated'' them into signing the school's charter petition.

``The district takes this seriously. An inquiry is taking place. No conclusions have been made at this point,'' said Deborah Leidner, the Local District A superintendent, who oversees schools in the northwest San Fernando Valley.

While leaders of United Teachers Los Angeles claim teachers were coerced, the UTLA's local chapter chairman at El Camino Real, Jack Koenig, called the investigation ``much to-do about nothing.''

``This may be a fishing expedition to try to keep us from getting a charter,'' he said. ``Maybe the district is sending a message: If you are applying for a charter, we will investigate it.''

Five LAUSD lawyers have been interviewing all 150 teachers at El Camino Real, with the investigation expected to conclude in two weeks.

District officials declined to elaborate on the nature of the allegations, nor would they comment on how many complaints they have received. Leidner, however, confirmed that no grievances are pending.

Bauer, who has been at the helm of El Camino Real for eight years, said the complaints came from four teachers, one of whom is no longer at the school, while the rest of the faculty is largely in support of the charter petition.

``I am both offended and my feelings are hurt,'' he said. ``My professional reputation, my personal reputation is on the line in a situation like this.''

John Perez, president of UTLA, said his organization has received complaints alleging coercion by Bauer. According to Perez, Bauer called teachers into his office to sign the petition, shortly after a straw vote failed to muster two-thirds support from teachers.

``A charter is something you've got to have consensus on - something that people feel comfortable with,'' Perez said.

Bauer said the signatures on the petition show how widespread support is for the charter effort. He said he set the petition out on a corner of his office desk for teachers to sign after some expressed concern about leaving it out on a public counter.

Of 92 permanent teachers at El Camino Real, 58, or 63 percent, signed the school's petition to become a charter school, according to Bauer. Overall, 103 teachers out of a 150-member faculty, or 68 percent, supported the petition.

California law requires signatures from only 50 percent of the permanent teachers at a school to convert into a charter campus.

An alternative form of public education, charter schools are largely exempt from the state Education Code and enjoy control of their budget and curriculum.