GOP Rivals Agree on Valley School District : Assembly: Paula Boland joins Robert Wilcox in calling for the breakup of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

A Granada Hills real estate agent seeking the Republican nomination to represent the northern San Fernando Valley in the state Assembly said Tuesday she plans to pursue a breakup of the sprawling Los Angeles Unified School District, moving in on political turf staked out by her opponent.

Paula Boland, 50, said that falling test scores and increasing campus violence have persuaded her to seek creation of a separate school district for residents of the San Fernando Valley, now part of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

“I fully intend to do everything in my power to break up the district,” said Boland, who would not discuss details.

Boland is one of five GOP candidates in the June 5 primary election for the seat vacated by Assemblywoman Marian W. La Follette (R-Northridge). Her chief rival, Robert Wilcox, 24, a former La Follette aide, first made a campaign issue of favoring Valley secession from the Los Angeles district--a longtime effort by La Follette with which he has been closely associated.

Although members of the Legislature do not have direct jurisdiction over school district programs, Boland said she opposes bilingual education, as well as the busing of children to Valley schools from more crowded parts of the city.

Separation of the Valley from the rest of the 610,000-student Los Angeles school district gained more support this year among parents angry over plans to operate schools year-round.

District and state education officials agree that creation of a separate Valley school district is very unlikely because of legal and economic obstacles. The Legislature previously has not been interested in taking up the issue despite repeated efforts by La Follette.

La Follette in February said she would not seek reelection after serving 10 years in the Assembly. She endorsed Wilcox, who served as executive director of a committee she formed last summer to reexamine the district breakup issue.

Wilcox reacted to Boland’s statement by saying she knows little about the issue, “but I welcome Paula to the longtime effort.”

In a report scheduled for submission to the state Board of Education later this month, La Follette’s committee is expected to recommend that the Los Angeles district be broken into eight or more separate school districts, with at least two in the Valley. La Follette wants the state board and the Los Angeles County Committee on School District Organization to approve a citywide vote on the proposal.

Critics of the proposal say changing the size of the Los Angeles school district would do little to boost academic achievement.

The winner of the GOP primary will face what is considered only token Democratic opposition in the November election. The majority of voters in the 38th District, which covers most of the northern Valley, are registered Republicans.