Charges Made in Battle Over School Vouchers : Election: Backers claim public school teachers have campaigned against the initiative during class time.

School voucher supporters asked the state attorney general Thursday to investigate reports of public school teachers campaigning against the ballot measure during class time.

Meanwhile, opponents warned of potential abuse of taxpayer money by private schools, distributing a state auditor’s opinion that the state would have no authority to audit voucher funds.

Proposition 174 sponsors said they have received complaints about teachers distributing literature against the initiative to students at school and of voucher opponents campaigning during back-to-school nights.

An attorney for the Yes on 174 campaign also criticized acting state schools Supt. William Dawson for issuing press releases “berating” the initiative and directing people to contact state employees for further information.

“We believe that these expenditures are illegal,” attorney Thomas Hiltachk said in a letter to Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren.

Bill Rukeyser of the state Education Department said a school superintendent, as a constitutional officer, has as much right as the governor or attorney general to endorse or oppose candidates and ballot measures.

It would be improper for department employees to advocate political positions on government time, but it is appropriate for them to analyze the initiative and to factually report positions taken by either the superintendent or the Board of Education, Rukeyser said.

“This is a perfectly proper and legal activity,” he said. “As a matter of fact, the department would probably be derelict in its duty if it did not analyze this measure.”

The State Board of Education, whose members were appointed by Republican governors, opposes the voucher initiative.

Lungren spokesman Dave Puglia said the office was reviewing the complaints “to determine what action, if any, is warranted.”

Proposition 174 on the Nov. 2 ballot would grant parents vouchers worth about $2,600 annually to send their children to the public or private school of their choice.

At a news conference in San Francisco on Thursday, Dawson said an opinion by Kurt Sjoberg, state auditor general, held that the state will have no fiscal control over use of the vouchers by private schools.

“The implications for unchecked misuse of public funds are devastating,” Dawson said in a statement.

The auditor general’s office has the authority to audit state agencies and their contractors. However, Sjoberg said private schools that redeem vouchers would fit neither definition.

Conservative taxpayer groups that endorsed the initiative at a Capitol news conference said they believe voucher schools would be held accountable by parents and by competition. “I think the marketplace will determine the accountability,” said Lewis Uhler, president of the National Tax Limitation Committee.