Religious Group Attacks Irvine Unified Tax Measure

As supporters of a flat $95 levy for the financially ailing Irvine Unified School District gathered at a rally Sunday, worshipers at several of the city’s churches were handed fliers saying that the tax was “anti-family.”

The fliers accused the public schools of teaching that there is no God and following a pro-homosexuality and pro-abortion agenda. The fliers said they were from a group called Christian Activists, but neither the printed matter nor a related Web site revealed the identity of any of the group’s members.

Just days before Tuesday’s special election on the tax, the flier has further split the small opposition movement against the measure.

Although declining to comment on the flier directly, Eunice Cluck, president of Irvine Taxpayers for Better Education, distanced herself from its content.

“We believe that public education is the foundation of democracy and do not endorse other views,” she said.

Cluck complained about a number of threatening calls she had received at her group’s hotline as well as her private phone number. The calls said that Cluck “would be sorry” if the tax fails, she said.

Several tax supporters denied any involvement with the calls.

“I don’t think that’s right any more than we don’t think it’s right [that people take down our signs],” said Sue Kuwabara, vice president of Irvine’s PTA Council, referring to about 400 “Vote Yes on Measure A” signs that had disappeared from Irvine’s streets.

But Cluck countered that her group was too small to engage in unfair campaigning.

“We have hardly enough manpower to conduct a campaign,” she said.

Others said the last-minute campaign activities were nothing unusual.

“In any campaign you see stepping up of activity,” said Hugh Hewitt, co-chair of Save Our Schools, a group supporting the tax. “I just hope that the “yes” people respect the other side to hold their opinions, no matter how much they disagree with them.”

Supporters and opponents came eye to eye at Crossroads Shopping Center, where about two dozen students in support of the measure competed with a small group of anti-tax campaigners in handing out pamphlets.

“I wanted to leave a legacy,” John Atabak, 17, a senior at University High School, said as he cheered honking drivers-by. “Two teachers that I valued most got pink slips.”

If the tax fails, a $4-million budget hole will force trustees to lay off about 136 teachers and cut enriched arts, music and science programs, district officials said.

Handing out Cluck’s “Vote No” pamphlets on the other side of a store entrance, Trish Harrison, an Irvine resident whose two school-age children attend private schools, said that the district should learn to live within its means.

“I’m just a poor working taxpayer that’s struggling as it is,” she said. “Why should taxpayers pay for music lessons?”

Supt. Patricia Clark White told about 100 supporters at the center’s food court that she hoped the tax would pass.

“We’ve got two days,” she said. “Our kids are waiting, our parents are waiting, the school board and I are waiting for an answer.”