We're outta here!

Common Cause Magazine, Winter, 1992 by Peter Overby

Burke, a businessman and longtime Republican, says his goal is more money and autonomy for local schools. "We're basically doing it for the youngsters here in South Boston," he says.

South Boston, a white, largely working-class enclave of 29,500, sits on a peninsula. It erupted in violence against court-ordered busing in the 1970s and bfiefly sent a fiercely anti-busing councilwoman to Congress. The legacy of that turmoil, Burke says, is that most of South Boston's 3,600 school children now attend Catholic schools.

Boston is famous for its colleges, churches and hospitals - usually tax-exempt. But most of them are in other parts of the city, so South Boston has a relatively strong tax base. That means South Boston can afford to secede, Burke contends, adding, "Once you run your own town, you immediately gain control of your school system."

The Boston political establishment tried to ignore the secession referendum, and there was little organized opposition, Burke says. "We really haven't heard a single concrete argument against it. We asked ourselves, Why didn't this happen when the busing started?"

And then there's the mega-state, California. Its biggest city, Los Angeles, and capital, Sacramento, are 500 miles apart, twice the distance separating Washington, D.C., and New York City. A single school district - Los Angeles Unified - has 660,000 students, more people than Alaska, Delaware, North Dakota, Vermont or Wyoming.

Last June, even before the L.A. riot and the state's budget meltdown, 31 of 58 counties voted on a referendum advocating splitting California in two. The question was approved in 27 counties. Now the referendum's author, Republican Assemblyman Stan Stathem, says a three-way split would be better yet.

"What it's really tapping into is a total dissatisfaction," says Stathem, who lives north of Sacramento. "This is very analogous to [support for] Ross Perot."

Proposals to divide California are almost as old as the state. One plan even reached Congress, but died at the outbreak of the Civil War. In 1935, complaining about bad roads and general neglect from their state capitals, counties in northern California and southern Oregon threatened to form a state of Jefferson. They got as far as appointing an interim governor when World War II interrupted.

Today, California has swelled to a population of 30 million, and regional differences are greater than ever. San Francisco resents Los Angeles and Northern California doesn't like San Francisco. "We're talking about dividing a nation-state," Stathem says.

California voters may well see a final referendum next year. Stathem chairs a legislative committee charged with finding ways to split the state and vows to introduce a bill in the spring. Under his plan, the new states would be North California, above San Francisco, population 2.4 million; Central California, from San Francisco to Santa Barbara, population 10.1 million; and South California, the eight southernmost counties, population 17.9 million. South California would be the largest state in the nation.