School Segregation Charge Flares Again : Van Nuys: Assemblywoman Paula Boland and NAACP President Joseph Duff trade accusations at a hearing on breakup of L.A. Unified. Most speak strongly for the plan.

Charges of segregationist motives flared anew during a hearing on the proposed breakup of the Los Angeles Unified School District on Friday as the San Fernando Valley-based effort continued to dominate the city’s mayoral campaign and aggravate racial tensions.

Assemblywoman Paula Boland (R-Granada Hills), a movement leader, and Los Angeles NAACP President Joseph Duff, a critic, engaged in an emotional shouting match--each accusing the other of being a segregationist more interested in political power than education.

Meanwhile, several mayoral and City Council candidates took advantage of a sympathetic audience in Van Nuys to affirm their support for dismantling the foundering school district.

Most of those attending the hearing in Van Nuys spoke strongly in favor of splitting up the district. Duff was an exception.

“This is the same as Yugoslavia,” he said. “It’s Balkanization, the breaking up of territories into ethnically pure states. It’s unabashed segregationism.”

Boland retorted, “You’ve called me a segregationist and you’re absolutely incorrect. It is you, sir, who are the segregationist.”

Boland said she scheduled the hearing at the Airtel Plaza Hotel near Van Nuys Airport to give Valley residents--the core of support for a school district breakup--a chance to speak on the issue because a similar hearing last month was held downtown.

She is co-author of a bill with state Senate President Pro Tempore David A. Roberti (D-Van Nuys) that would create a commission to study breaking up the sprawling Los Angeles school system into at least seven smaller districts.

Boland has also introduced a separate bill that would set aside at least four of the proposed commission’s 25 seats for Valley representatives but currently provides no such guarantee for residents from other parts of the city.

State Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) repeatedly questioned Boland about that bill Friday, suggesting that her Valley emphasis might only fuel charges of suburban favoritism.

“If this is your starting position, you’re only reinforcing the feeling that the San Fernando Valley is trying to get more representation” than other parts of Los Angeles, Hayden told Boland after her exchange with Duff.

“It doesn’t advance the dialogue in the city,” said Hayden, who supports a breakup of the school district.

Boland made no commitment to amending her bill to ensure commission seats for South and East Los Angeles residents, and pointed out to Hayden that the proposal would never succeed without Valley support. But she said the holding of hearings “means we’re open.”

Boland also had a testy exchange with school board member Jeff Horton, who blamed the Legislature for failing the district by not providing enough funding.

At Friday’s hearing, one speaker after another--including teachers, parents, politicians and activists--listed the school district’s failings and their frustration at dealing with its massive bureaucracy.

Many speakers, like City Councilman and mayoral candidate Joel Wachs, dismissed allegations of racism, insisting that minorities have the most to gain from a sweeping reform of the 640,000-student district.

“The issue is not seceding or racism, but empowerment,” said Wachs, a Valley-based politician who ran full-page newspaper ads Friday touting his support of the breakup. “The truth is the people most hurt by the present system are those who can’t go elsewhere.”

Mayoral candidates Richard Riordan, Julian Nava and Nate Holden, a city councilman, also expressed support for the plan, with variations. Other political candidates who spoke in favor of splitting up the district Friday were Dennis Zine, Laura Lake, Laura Chick and Dan Pritikin, all seeking City Council seats.

Congressman Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-Santa Clarita), attended and said he may introduce a measure to ensure a fair distribution of federal funds among the new school districts if the breakup occurs.