School Boards Curbed Over Spending to Fight Initiative : Education: Judge refuses to silence trustees but orders a halt to use of public money to build opposition to a proposal for vouchers to private institutions.

A Superior Court judge ordered two county school districts Wednesday to stop using public funds to build opposition to the proposed Parental Choice Initiative but rebuffed an attempt to keep school boards from taking a stand on the measure.

Just three minutes into an afternoon hearing, Superior Court Judge C. Robert Jameson said he had already decided that he would not order local boards to rescind resolutions they have passed opposing the proposed ballot initiative.

The measure would create a voucher system, making school-age children eligible for $2,600 scholarships that could be applied toward education at public, private or parochial schools.

The Excellence Through Choice in Education League, which sponsors the measure, had asked that such resolutions be rescinded and that school boards and officials be barred from publicly stating a position on the measure. Both requests were rejected.

But Jameson did grant the league’s request to forbid district use of public money or other public resources to advocate or oppose the measure.

The Saddleback Valley Unified School District in Mission Viejo, one of the two districts named in the lawsuit, had circulated a newsletter including a copy of the resolution its board had passed opposing the initiative.

The other defendant, the Magnolia School District in Anaheim, included a page in its newsletter urging parents not to sign the proposed initiative, saying it would “lead to chaos in public education.”

Jameson had particularly harsh words for Magnolia, saying that using public education money to disseminate a flyer that was “as political as can be” was “offensive” and “terribly improper.”

Neither district objected to the prohibition against using school money over the measure, but each vigorously contested the proposal to restrict what board members could say about it, contending that it would violate free-speech guarantees.

Both sides claimed at least partial victories. Manuel S. Klauser, attorney for the league sponsoring the initiative, said he is relieved that no more taxpayer dollars will be spent to “interfere in a political process that is supposed to be fair and impartial.”

Ronald Wenkart, senior attorney for the county Department of Education, said he is pleased that the judge did not interfere with school officials’ fundamental right to voice opinions on an important issue.

At another hearing May 12, Jameson is expected to decide whether to extend Wednesday’s order indefinitely. But initiative supporters viewed today’s hearing as crucial because they want to minimize opposition in the little time they have for gathering signatures in a bid to qualify the measure for the November ballot.

The league has already won similar court orders against the Los Angeles school system and the Las Virgenes Unified School District in Calabasas and plans this week to seek more such orders in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Bernardino counties.

Proponents say the initiative would give parents more power to choose where their children are educated and would force a public school system to improve because it would have to compete with private schools for students.

But opponents--including scores of school boards and administrators around the state--fear that the measure would rob millions from districts already struggling with the effects of years of budget cutting.

They have also called the measure elitist, saying it would not create educational opportunities for poor children that backers claim.

Kevin Teasley, vice chairman of the league supporting the measure, said support among county legislators has been “tremendous.” But a sampling of views from the local delegation in Sacramento found opinion divided, for widely varying reasons.

In the Assembly, Republicans Gil Ferguson of Newport Beach and Mickey Conroy of Santa Ana support the measure, while Nolan Frizzelle (R-Fountain Valley), Doris Allen (R-Cypress) and Tom Umberg (D-Garden Grove) oppose it. Republicans Tom Mays of Huntington Beach and Ross Johnson of La Habra could not be reached.

Among the county’s state senators, Republicans Edward R. Royce of Anaheim and John R. Lewis of Orange support the initiative, while Cecil N. Green (D-Norwalk) and Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) oppose it. Frank Hill (R-Whittier) could not be reached.

Ferguson introduced an Assembly bill similar to the initiative, but it was killed in committee. Bergeson introduced a bill in the Senate creating vouchers for students in schools that perform worst in state tests, but that bill was defeated.

Frizzelle said he supports the basic idea of giving parents a choice over what schools their children attend, but the proposed initiative “worries” him, he said, because he fears that the state could end up exerting too much control over private school decisions by imposing conditions on the use of voucher money.

Conroy said he thinks that the initiative is a good way to create opportunity for inner-city children who might be able to use the money to attend “a private school that concentrates on education, instead of a public school that concentrates on bureaucracy.”