LOS ANGELES : Boland, Hayden Propose to Split Up School District

Taking advantage of the new political landscape in Sacramento, two legislators from opposite sides of the aisle have joined forces to propose a legislative plan to dismantle the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Assemblywoman Paula Boland (R-Granada Hills) and state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles) will both sponsor legislation early next year to dissolve the 636,400-student district and replace it with several smaller school systems.

“Sen. Hayden probably is as liberal as I am conservative,” said Boland, a longtime breakup proponent. “Yet, from both of our perspectives, LAUSD must be broken up.”

Speaking at a news conference at Northridge Middle School, the legislators said that although previous efforts to break up the district have failed, the political climate has changed with the election of 28 new Assembly members. “I think most legislators now would favor it,” Hayden said. “This bill is in somewhat better condition . . . than last year,” when it was rejected by an Assembly committee.

Hayden said the sheer size of the district--the nation’s second-largest--presents too many bureaucratic obstacles for parents and teachers. “It’s this philosophical concern that has brought me to conclude over the years that the Los Angeles school district is way too large for any district or organization for parents or children or teachers to have an effective say in it,” he said.