School Breakup Issue Moves Step Closer to Ballot

Paving the way for a public vote on the breakup of the beleaguered Los Angeles school system, the state Senate Education Committee gave key approval Wednesday to legislation easing requirements to get the issue on the ballot.

The vote means that advocates of splitting up the massive, 708-square-mile Los Angeles Unified School District have their first realistic opportunity in 25 years to get legislation putting their goal within reach.

The bill slashes, from 386,000 to 72,000, the number of petition signatures required to place the question before voters in an election likely to be held districtwide.

Breakup backers believe that, at least in the San Fernando Valley, the smaller number of signatures is attainable.

Since 1970, when then-Gov. Ronald Reagan vetoed the last breakup measure that made it through the Legislature, frustrated parents have sought autonomy from a district they view as too large to teach their children well.

School district supporters and teachers union representatives were disappointed by the 6-2 vote in favor of the bill, pledging to do their best to kill it yet.

The bill, by Assemblywoman Paula Boland (R-Granada Hills), must clear one more Senate committee and win full Senate approval before heading to Gov. Pete Wilson for his signature. Wilson announced his support for the measure last week, and the Assembly lined up behind it earlier this session.

Backers of the bill were cautious in declaring outright victory, but called the Senate Education Committee “a major hurdle” and its “toughest test,” leaving the sense that, from here, the battle was expected to be downhill.

“This is a great breakthrough for the parents and their kids,” said state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica), who as a member of the committee played a crucial role in the bill’s passage. “It means we’re on the threshold of finding a way to resolve a dispute that has deadlocked people for 20 years.

“And the process is going to be fair to everybody. You don’t notice us today denouncing anybody or perpetuating polarization.”

At a news conference after the committee vote, Boland admitted to an emotional attachment to the bill, which she said grew out of her two-decade involvement with the breakup movement in the Valley.

“I’m almost at a speechless state because this is such a historical day,” Boland said. “It’s been a long 20 years that I have heard parents pleading for a way to have more say in their kids’ education.

“Once in a while up here you can really get excited when you realize that bureaucrats and politicians listen to the will of the people.”

Opponents were far less excited in their assessment of Wednesday’s vote.

State Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles) said that if the Valley manages to splinter off from the LAUSD in a separate district, the urban areas she represents will be shortchanged. School funding formulas for the district are boosted by Valley property taxes, which, if funneled into a separate school system, will lower overall per-pupil funding, she said.

“Any time an area breaks off, that affects revenue for the whole district, particularly the lowest socioeconomic areas,” Watson said. “I intend to fight this.”

Still, Watson, a member of the education panel, was absent for the debate Wednesday, and committee Chairman Leroy Greene (D-Carmichael) provided a critical swing vote for the Boland bill.

Boland credited support from the governor, who backs the bill but has not taken a stand on a breakup, for helping the measure pass. For five years, she said, she and others have courted Wilson’s backing. “His coming on board was really a turning point,” she said.

Wilson Administration spokesman William S. Furry, deputy secretary of child development and education, attended the committee hearing but did not need to testify.

“From our point of view, current law presents insurmountable obstacles to the democratic process,” Furry said. “This will allow the democratic process to function in the L.A. Unified School District.”

But from the perspective of United Teachers-Los Angeles, Wednesday’s vote was a loss for parents who pin their hopes on the measure as a tool for improving the quality of education.

“This is a disappointment for L.A. residents because they are being led down a path,” said Bill Lambert, the union’s lobbyist. “Somebody has given them false hope to believe if you have more school districts, you’re going to have better schools. I just don’t think that’s true.”

In addition to the Valley, the cities of Carson and Lomita are currently seeking to split off from the LAUSD, according to Boland’s office.

With 640,000 students, the Los Angeles school system is by far the largest district in the state and the second biggest in the nation. Despite new classroom programs, student performance has not shown marked improvement and dropout rates remain higher than twice the statewide average.

But legal advisers to the district contend that the Boland bill is the wrong vehicle for reform. Marcia T. Law, the district’s attorney, believes the measure could trigger a constitutional challenge because it singles out one school system.

In addition, she said, any change to election and voting-rights laws are subject to strict scrutiny by the courts.

Ron Prescott, the district’s chief lobbyist, said he will continue to press for amendments expanding the bill to include all the state’s school districts. Proponents say such a move would effectively kill the bill by mustering opposition from other school systems.

But Hayden’s staff said that there is no shortage of case law to affirm the bill’s constitutionality.

One component of the bill that was expanded to apply statewide is the elimination of school districts’ veto power over breakup proposals. Current provisions giving school systems this power are “archaic,” said Greene.

In its final form as passed, the bill was very close to what Boland had sought all along--a reduction in the signature threshold from 25% of all registered voters in the district to 8% of the district’s registered voters who cast ballots in the last gubernatorial election.

While the bill is explicit on the number of signatures needed to qualify for the ballot, it leaves other details to be worked out by the Los Angeles County Committee on School District Organization. Among other things, the panel must decide what area would vote on a breakup proposal. On the LAUSD question, it is believed the whole district should have a say.

In an effort to address concerns that racial imbalances may result from a district reorganization, Boland Wednesday followed through on her pledge to formally hitch her bill to Hayden’s companion measure. Both must pass in order for either to become law.

The Hayden bill, which cleared the Senate and is now in the Assembly, sets guidelines ensuring racial and funding equality for all districts resulting from a reorganization.

* NOT SO FAST: Backers of breakup agenda have long road ahead. B1

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NEXT STEP

AB 107, the Los Angeles Unified School District breakup bill approved Wednesday by the state Senate Education Committee, now goes to the Senate Appropriations Committee. If approved, the bill by Assemblywoman Paula Boland (R-Granada Hills) goes to the full Senate, where passage is also expected. If the Assembly concurs with any Senate amendments, it heads for the governor’s desk. Gov. Pete Wilson has indicated that he will sign the bill if it reaches him.