Bid to Recall L.A. School Board Chief Falls Short : Politics: Group that targeted Slavkin over the district’s court challenge of Proposition 187 fails to collect enough signatures by Friday deadline.

A group that launched a bid to recall Los Angeles Unified School District board President Mark Slavkin because of his opposition to Proposition 187 has conceded defeat, saying the drive was hampered by a shortage of funds and bad weather.

The Voice of Citizens Together, a Sherman Oaks-based group that backs the anti-illegal immigration measure, had collected a little more than 30,000 signatures since December but fell short of the 52,965 needed by the deadline Friday, said group founder Glenn Spencer.

Nonetheless, Spencer said the group demonstrated widespread support for tougher laws against illegal immigration and will press state and national lawmakers to respond to those sentiments.

“We are going to continue to do what we can to protect our nation from an invasion in California,” he said. “We are not going away.”

Slavkin drew the group’s anger when he led the board in voting last year to mount a legal challenge to Proposition 187, the voter-approved measure to deny schooling, non-emergency health care and other government services to illegal immigrants.

The group criticized Slavkin and the board for voting to spend an estimated $250,000 in tax money to challenge a measure approved by a majority of voters.

Slavkin was out of town Friday. But a school spokesman said he had scheduled a Monday news conference on the recall drive.

The announcement was good news for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, one of several groups that challenged the constitutionality of Proposition 187.

“Fundamentally, it sends a good message that they were not able to gather the signatures,” said MALDEF spokesman Robert Almanzan. “This allows elected officials to stand up for what they believe without fear of being recalled.”

The development signals that emotions over the controversial measure have cooled and that voters are now willing to let the courts decide, Almanzan said.

“Hopefully, this is a sign that people can’t pass X, Y and Z measures without it having to be upheld to a higher level, the Constitution,” Almanzan said.

From the beginning, political consultants said the recall would be an uphill battle unless the group could tap and sustain voters’ anger. Furthermore, pundits estimated that the campaign needed to raise up to $25,000 to finance the drive.

Spencer’s group had 120 days to collect the signatures of 15% of the registered voters in Slavkin’s district, which stretches from Chatsworth to Westchester.

But Spencer said volunteers were forced to put off door-to-door soliciting on several days because of rain. The group only raised $7,000 and realized too late that the effort required much more funding, he said.

“We were a bit naive at the beginning,” Spencer said. “But we are learning.”

He vowed that the group will continue to collect donations and try to expand its base of support in hopes of influencing immigration legislation in Sacramento and Washington.