Cities Clear Hurdle in School Secession Bid
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SOUTHEAST LOS ANGELES — Communities hoping to break away from the Los Angeles Unified School District won an initial legislative victory Wednesday when a state Senate committee endorsed a bill to study such a proposal.
The bill by State Sen. Martha Escutia (D-Whittier) won the unanimous support of the State Education Committee.
The Belmont Learning Complex construction fiasco and the controversial decision by the school board to oust Supt. Ruben Zacarias revived a breakaway movement in the cities of Bell, Cudahy, Huntington Park, Maywood, South Gate and Vernon and the unincorporated communities of Walnut Park and Florence Parents and city leaders in those communities say that the school district has ignored overcrowding and other problems.
The Escutia bill would provide $100,000 for a study by the State Department of Education on the feasibility of a secession.
City officials from Bell, Cudahy and Huntington Park spoke in favor of the bill during the committee hearing, which was held in Sacramento. There was no opposition.
On Tuesday, the district board approved a plan to reorganize the district into 11 subdistricts. But Huntington Park City Councilwoman Rosario Marin said representatives of the southeast cities are not appeased by the board’s reorganization plans.
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