Press Release
From: Valley VOTE
Valley Voters Organized Toward Empowerment
14622 Ventura Blvd. #424, Sherman Oaks, CA. 91403
Contact: Joe Vitti
Email: javittisr@cs.com [818] 366 1668

Valley VOTE Press Release

Date: 4/14/06

The motion shown below has been passed overwhelmingly by the Valley VOTE Board of Directors.

"Valley VOTE supports the breakup and reorganization of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) as proposed by Assembly Bill 2071 (Keith Richman) and Senate Bill 1326 (George Runner). Valley VOTE has recommended a major reorganization of the LAUSD since the early days of the cityhood campaign in 2000. The identical bills of Keith Richman and George Runner provide an excellent plan to reorganize the LAUSD and create approximately 15 school districts of no more than 50,000 students by July of 2010."

President Joe Vitti of Valley VOTE said proposals to break up the LAUSD go back to the 70's. The most recent failed effort was to create 2 new school districts in the San Fernando Valley in 2002. That plan was supported by the recommendations included in a Little Hoover Commission study. In their November 3,1999 report to Governor Gray Davis and other state legislative leaders, including Antonio Villaraigosa, the Little Hoover Commission report stated the following:

"The Commission found LAUSD to be a disturbingly dysfunctional organization, too large to serve it's students, staffed by an overgrown and inbred bureaucracy, and governed by a narrow -minded board"

The Little Hoover Commission went on to recommend the following:

"Reconfigure LAUSD into smaller school districts...The sheer size of the district, it's student body and it's facilities are beyond the ability of the contemporary school board and administrators to manage."

Although progress has been made recently by the LAUSD, particularly on school construction projects, the conceptual reorganization plan as presented in the Richman- Runner bills is long overdue. The proposed school district reorganization commission of each new district does include mayoral and balanced community representation. The 15 smaller districts will result in school board meeting locations within local communities. This should result in greater parental involvement in the district's activities and more accountability by the board. It is expected that improved student achievement will follow.

Studies have shown that student district size in the range of 50,000 is far superior to the 727,000 in the LAUSD. Less than 2% of the school districts in the U.S. have more than 25,000 students.

Attached for your review is AB 2071

Valley VOTE Mission Statement
Valley VOTE, a diverse coalition of San Fernando Valley business people, educators, community activists, and organizations, is committed to exploring and implementing programs that empower the people of the San Fernando Valley and the city of Los Angeles including opportunities to improve local governance, education and public participation on policy matters.
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