Assembly Panel Rejects School Breakup Bill

A key state Assembly committee on Wednesday overwhelmingly rejected a sweeping proposal to dismantle the mammoth Los Angeles Unified School District--an action likely to prompt an initiative drive to put the issue on the ballot.

After a contentious three-hour hearing and several days of intense behind-the-scenes lobbying, the bill by Sen. David A. Roberti (D-Van Nuys) drew support from only four Republicans and was opposed by six Democrats, including four from Los Angeles. The others on the 17-member panel were either absent or abstained.

Leticia Quezada, president of the school board, which strongly opposed the legislation, was elated by the defeat of Roberti’s measure, describing it outside the hearing room as “a victory for Los Angeles and anyone who represents the interests of quality education” in the 640,000-student district, the nation’s second-largest.

Roberti said he was disappointed but not surprised by the committee’s action, saying he expected a tough fight because the legislation was opposed by teacher unions and their powerful ally, Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco).

Brown acknowledged answering questions on the issue at a recent meeting of the Legislative Black Caucus but denied that he pressured lawmakers.

Roberti, president pro tem of the Senate, immediately vowed to consider other options for the proposal--from trying to negotiate a meaningful compromise that could be heard by lawmakers in August after they return from summer vacation to joining with others in an initiative campaign.

He declined to spell out the details of putting it on the ballot but said he planned to immediately talk to supporters in the San Fernando Valley, the cradle of the breakup movement.

Assemblywoman Paula Boland (R-Granada Hills), a staunch breakup supporter, initially said she was poised to join in an initiative drive, but later said she wanted to talk to Roberti before disclosing her plans.

Whatever strategy is adopted by breakup proponents, Roberti made clear that while he may have lost a skirmish, he was not giving up the fight. “We have no intention of letting this thing drop,” Roberti said at a press conference. “We intend to carry on the battle for the public schools.”

Roberti also predicted that his bill’s defeat will be cited by supporters of the school voucher initiative on the November ballot to show that lawmakers are not interested in reforming public education and as a reason to back the ballot measure. The initiative would give parents tax-supported scholarships that could be used to pay for sending children to either public or private schools.

After winning a special election in the San Fernando Valley last year, Roberti, a longtime school district supporter, embraced the breakup issue as a top legislative priority.

Roberti’s legislation would have set up a 32-member commission that would have developed a plan to break up the district into at least seven smaller school systems. They would have been directed to put their plan on the November, 1994, election ballot.

At the hearing, the measure was favored by parents from the San Fernando Valley, San Pedro and Carson as well as Huntington Park Mayor Richard Loya, who is a health science teacher in the Los Angeles school system. It was opposed by the California Teachers Assn., United Teachers-Los Angeles and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, among others.

Both sides turned Wednesday’s hearing into a colloquium on what ails the Los Angeles schools and the best way to improve education in a district where at least 86 languages are spoken.

Roberti argued that the public is frustrated by the district’s tangled bureaucracy and falling test scores. He contended that smaller districts would boost parent involvement in schools.

His voice rising, Roberti cited “frustration by the parents who are voting with their feet and getting out of LAUSD because they think it is hopeless” and he complained that “they are not even given a chance to have any autonomy over the education of their kids.”

Critics on the committee peppered Roberti with questions and punctuated his remarks with objections.

School Board Member Mark Slavkin cautioned Roberti about launching a crusade to push the breakup, saying: “I think it would be very divisive in a city already divided along racial lines.”

While Roberti would not spell out his next step, one of his allies recently said he would spearhead a petition drive to get the issue on the ballot.

“We are talking about not putting all our eggs in one basket,” said Bob Scott, chairman of Valley Advocates for Local Education. “If the legislation doesn’t get through the Assembly, we’ll start the initiative drive. Immediately.”

Still, county officials said supporters cannot legally hit the streets to gather signatures unless the Los Angeles school board gives its prior approval--an unlikely event given the board’s opposition to the breakup.

NEXT STEP

The defeat in the state Assembly Education Committee of legislation to break up the Los Angeles Unified School District is prompting supporters to consider strategy for their next move. Among options being weighed are a drive to put the issue on the election ballot, letting voters decide or mounting a last-ditch attempt to hammer out a compromise that could be reconsidered by the Education Committee later this summer.