Backers of L.A. School Breakup Plan New Tactic : Education: Sen. Roberti says he may attach stalled bill to another measure. Opponents picket the strategy session.

Flanked by Mayor Richard Riordan and other San Fernando Valley political heavyweights who favor splintering the Los Angeles Unified School District, state Sen. David Roberti revealed a new tactic Saturday for advancing his bill to dismantle the giant district through the Legislature.

Speaking at a “parents summit” on the breakup at Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, Roberti (D-Van Nuys) said that if his bill, which would create a commission to develop a breakup plan, remains stuck in the Assembly Education Committee much longer, he will attempt to force it to the floor by attaching it to another bill. Breakup supporters have been unable to muster enough votes on the Assembly Education Committee to move the bill, which has passed the Senate, to the floor of the lower house.

If the Assembly passes an education-related bill of its own and sends it to the Senate, Roberti said, he will amend the measure with his breakup bill and return it to the Assembly.

The Valley has been the hotbed of the breakup movement. On Saturday, 10 Valley lawmakers--all wearing identical blue “Breakup LAUSD” T-shirts--appeared on a panel at the event. Others included Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar) and City Council members Joel Wachs, Laura Chick and Hal Bernson.

The idea was to discuss strategies in the event that Roberti’s bill fails.

“We are all here for a very simple reason--because we love our children,” Riordan told the crowd.

Riordan disputed arguments that splitting up the district would harm children from poor areas or children who have special requirements, such as bilingual education. Smaller districts with more Spanish-speaking children than Los Angeles, he said, consistently teach youngsters better than LAUSD does.

Outside, 32 adults and about 20 children who oppose dismantling the district marched in a circle in front of the school auditorium, holding signs reading “Breakup = Bigotry” and “Break Roberti, Not the District.” They noisily shook plastic bottles filled with pebbles, and shouted slogans at Roberti as he entered the building.

Once the summit began, the protesters came inside, bringing the total attendance of the mostly white crowd to about 340.

The politicians took turns outlining tactics for splitting up the district. A sampling:

* Reorganize the district by making use of existing state laws. Current law would require the Los Angeles County Committee on School District Reorganization, affiliated with the County Office of Education, to consider a plan to break up the district if supporters could gather 160,000 petition signatures. But the law does not require the committee to act on the plan by advancing it to the State Board of Education.

* Change current law to send the petition directly to the state board and remove a requirement that the Los Angeles Board of Education approve of any changes.

* Gather more than 300,000 signatures to put an initiative to break up the district on the state ballot in November, 1994. A number of the participants, including Wachs and Chick, said they were leaning toward this option.