Smaller School Districts Urged by Task Force

Dividing the Los Angeles Unified School District into at least eight and as many as 49 smaller districts will improve academic performance and reduce the number of dropouts, according to a report issued Wednesday by a task force formed to study ways to break up the district.

The report shows that the 610,000-student district is “incapable of addressing the legitimate education needs of Los Angeles-area students,” said Assemblywoman Marian La Follette (R-Northridge), a longtime advocate of breaking up the district who formed the task force.

But two of the seven members appointed to serve on the Los Angeles Task Force for Better Education said that despite the report’s conclusions, they have not seen enough evidence that dividing up the district would cure the many ills plaguing city schools.