Hearings Focus on LAUSD Breakup Rules

The State Board of Education opens two days of hearings this morning on proposed regulations that would govern a breakup of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Critics say the rules are designed to thwart the secession movement.

The proposed regulations require that any election on a district breakup proposal be preceded by an analysis of its effect on student demographics and the distribution of district resources. The rules have come under fire from school activists and political leaders, including Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Northridge), who has proposed less stringent regulations.

“The bottom line is that the state’s proposed regulations are an attempt to kill anybody’s ability to detach from the district,” said Scott Wilk, McClintock’s chief of staff and executive director of the Valley breakup group Finally Restoring Excellence in Education.

State education officials say the proposed regulations are required to comply with a new state law governing school district reorganizations.

The law, by state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica), requires breakup movements to examine, for example, the effects on socioeconomic diversity, compliance with court desegregation orders and the federal Voting Rights Act.

“It will make it very difficult to evaluate [breakup] proposals under the Hayden bill without regulations that clarify the intent of the legislation,” said Pat Chladek of the state Department of Education.

Today’s hearing on the breakup issue is the first to be held by the state board in Los Angeles. Public testimony will be heard on the proposed regulations, not the idea of breaking up the city school district.

The hearing begins at 10 a.m. at Valley College, Monarch Hall, 5800 Fulton Ave. in Van Nuys. On Saturday morning, the public hearing will take place at Los Angeles Trade Technical College, 400 W. Washington Blvd.