Vouchers: An Rx for Pupils? : Education: Vista physician quits practice to lead drive for 1992 ballot measure that would allow choice of public or private schools. State funds would follow students to institution.

VISTA, Calif. —  Parents for Educational Choice has all the markings of a start-up political campaign. Its sparse, cement-floor office in a San Marcos mall houses a handful of office equipment, two bulletin boards and a digital clock radio that still blinked “12:00” the other day.

And like all campaigns, it has its visionary: Stephen Guffanti.

Earlier this month, the 40-year-old Vista physician gave up his 4-year-old medical practice and the $100,000 it brought in last year for the daunting task of trying to get an initiative on the 1992 state ballot that would create a voucher system in the state’s public and private schools.

He also relinquished his seat on the Vista Unified school board, the only public office he has ever held, to head up the fledgling campaign.

When Guffanti talks about the initiative, he alternates between firebrand preacher and family doctor with a kindly bedside manner, his hands gesturing broadly as he extols the virtues of choice and the failings of public education.

“I don’t know anybody who wants their kids to learn more than their parents . . . so give the choice to the parents,” Guffanti said.

Guffanti hopes for a November, 1992, initiative that would allow parents to choose in which school to place their child. Parents would be free to choose either public or private school for their child. State funds would follow the child to that school, with parents making up any difference in cost between private and public education.

The state now pays public school districts an average of $4,826 for every student enrolled, based on average daily attendance.

Guffanti and his organization must gather 615,953 signatures for the initiative to qualify. He hopes to raise $4 million for the campaign, and although the group has only raised $20,000 so far, Guffanti says fund-raising has not begun in earnest.

Under the plan, children from low-income families would be the first to receive the vouchers, but the system eventually would apply to all students. The initiative also would institute a statewide test to rate how well public and private schools educate youngsters.

Parents for Educational Choice, a political action committee registered with the state, has about 1,200 members and volunteers throughout the state, Guffanti said.

While there are other conservative groups promoting a voucher system in the state, Guffanti’s group has been the most active and has already started seeking signatures.

“His is the most energetic group. It’s a grass-roots effort beginning with citizens and teachers and so on and not the typical political insiders who see this as a hot issue to raise money on,” said Steve Hayward of the Claremont Institute, a conservative public policy research organization.

The political fight Guffanti faces--and the personal financial drain--is a far cry from his days as a family doctor.

“I’ve been broke before, and I don’t enjoy being broke, but it doesn’t scare me,” said Guffanti, who is using money he had saved since becoming a doctor in 1977.

Guffanti continues to do part-time work, such as his twice-monthly visits to the Mountain Shadows Care Center in Escondido, which houses 105 developmentally disabled residents ranging in age from 9 to 64.

His wife, Maureen, who takes care of their 1-year-old daughter, Stephanie, said she is proud of her husband’s willingness to sacrifice so that he can pursue his goals.

He said that without competition among public and private schools, public schools will have no incentive to change.

“To me, it’s so perfectly clear that we have a monopoly school system, a one-size-fits-all school system that doesn’t fit anybody,” said Guffanti, who spent almost all of his educational career in private schools.

President Bush and others have decided that vouchers are among the best ways to solve many of the problems of the American school system. But opponents say it offers help to the middle-class and rich while leaving behind the poor and underprivileged by allowing wealthy schools to flourish while those in poor areas flounder. And they believe public schools would suffer.

Among the doubters is Marcia Viger, a former colleague of Guffanti who sits on the Vista Unified school board.

There is “something inherently unfair and potentially dangerous” in having state money going to private schools that would not have to follow the same rules that apply to public schools, Viger said.

Tamara Drean, president of the Vista Teachers Assn., also has strong reservations about Guffanti’s plan.

“Steve is very dedicated to what he is doing, and he really believes in it,” Drean said. “I personally believe that he is somewhat naive about what would happen as far as the implementation of the program.”