Backers of Voucher Plan Rally at Middle School

Undeterred by recent polls that found a majority of California voters opposed to Proposition 174, a handful of supporters of the school voucher initiative gathered in front of Northridge Middle School on Thursday, vowing to champion their cause to the bitter end.

“We think there’s still a lot of hope,” said Chris St. Hilaire, one of the directors of the Yes on 174 campaign. “We’re going to give them a run for their money.”

In polls released Thursday by The Times, the voucher proposal, which would have the state offer parents who want to send their children to private school a $2,600 annual voucher for tuition and expenses, trailed among likely voters by 66% to 27%, with 7% undecided.

Less than two weeks before the statewide election Nov. 2, supporters said they will work 24 hours a day if necessary to close the gap. Advocates of the initiative will launch at least four television and radio advertisements and hold a number of news conferences next week, attempting to offset the opposition’s $6-million advertising blitz, St. Hilaire said.

Two parents and two former teachers who support Proposition 174 showed up at the middle school, which was chosen by proponents of the initiative as a symbol of what they believe is wrong with the public school system. “The principal of this school was quoted as saying it was on the cutting edge of education,” St. Hilaire said, referring to a recent Times special section on the school. “What parents ought to know about this school is that students can take classes in baseball-card collecting and video watching. And some teachers give straight A’s whether students do work or not.”

Marisela Torres, a parent representative who has two teen-agers attending San Fernando High School, said she sees the initiative as the hope for her children’s future.

“I am disappointed in the education they are getting,” Torres said. “My son was absent 17 times last year and I didn’t even find out until I got his report card in July.”

Marilyn Maurer, who taught in Los Angeles Unified School District schools for 16 years, said she believes the voucher initiative would help make public schools more accountable to parents. Maurer quit her job out of disgust with the school system.

“Everybody always says we are destroying the public schools,” she said. “What we want more than anything is to restore public schools.”