Honig Urges Parents to Pressure Deukmejian on Behalf of Schools

State school Supt. Bill Honig stood in the backyard of a house in Northridge and delivered a civics lesson, sounding much like the elementary school teacher he once was.

But his audience was a group of 40 parents--not fifth-graders--and his lecture was a practical lesson in political power: how to put pressure on Gov. George Deukmejian and state legislators to spend more money on schools.

“It’s so important that we band together and go out and get public support from citizens and parents such as yourselves to be part of this effort to make sure that education stays No. 1,” he told the parents. “Everybody does a little bit, everybody does his or her share, and we have a huge, huge difference in the state.”

The school chief’s appearance in Northridge was part of a growing grass-roots campaign that demonstrated its strength Thursday night by simultaneously holding 3,300 “schoolhouse parties” around the state.

From San Diego to the Oregon border, according to Honig, more than 100,000 people gathered at parties like the one in Northridge to view a videotape that featured Honig, teachers and administrators decrying budget cuts in education. Afterward, organizers at each party encouraged parents and teachers to contribute money, write letters to legislators and the governor, or enlist as volunteers in a continuing campaign to increase money for public schools.

Later this year, Honig hopes, these same parents and teachers will become foot soldiers in an initiative drive to alter the state’s constitutional limit on spending, which he argues threatens to restrict funds for education.

On Friday, after viewing part of the 10-minute videotape shown at the schoolhouse parties, Deukmejian accused Honig of deceiving the public.

“Unfortunately, this continues to be a campaign of distortion,” Deukmejian said at the taping of KNBC-TV’s “News Conference,” which will be aired at 9 a.m. Sunday. “I think it is most unfortunate that a lot of people are being misled by Supt. Honig.”

Deukmejian said money for education has increased dramatically under his Administration and is not being cut back. The governor in recent weeks has repeatedly called on educators to eliminate wasteful spending and make more efficient use of the money they have.

Honig’s effort to build a grass-roots movement is an unusual attempt by a statewide officeholder, particularly a school superintendent, to rally popular support and form a continuing lobbying organization.

Begun only two months ago under the name California Movement for Educational Reform, the campaign has already raised $300,000--according to Honig--and has the potential to become a potent force in California politics.

Organized as Lobbying Group

The organization’s coordinating committee, chaired by Honig, includes the presidents of the California State PTA, California Federation of Teachers, California Teachers Assn., California School Boards Assn., and the Assn. of California School Administrators, among others. Organized solely as a lobbying group, it is prohibited by law from donating any money to political candidates.

“Grass-roots movements really do pay off in this state, and pay off in the political arena,” Honig told the parents. “The real issue for us is, can we get an ongoing organization.”

The former San Francisco schoolteacher has apparently struck a deep vein of support among some California parents who feel strongly that their children should have the best education possible.

“It frightens me to hear that money is going to be taken out of the school system,” said Richard Robledo, one of the parents who attended the party in Northridge. “I’m in support of this program. It’s our children’s future.”

Honig said the schoolhouse parties ranged in size from 20 to 1,000 people, but it will be several days before coordinators know precisely how many people turned out. The gatherings were timed to put pressure on Deukmejian as he prepares his final budget proposal for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

In January, the Republican governor proposed a $39.3-billion state budget that he says would increase spending for schools by $565 million next year.

But because of inflation and soaring enrollment, Honig contends, Deukmejian’s budget would have to increase by $600 million merely to maintain educational programs at current levels. He also has called on the governor to come up with an additional $300 million to continue the educational reform program begun over the last four years.

Honig’s attack on the budget--and his effort to organize support from parents, teachers and administrators--has left the two politicians feuding since the first of the year.

Deukmejian, frequently on the defensive on the subject as he travels around the state, has lashed out at the superintendent as a “demagogue,” “snake-oil salesman” and “whiner.”

Honig views the next two weeks as critical in the battle with Deukmejian because the governor will be revising the budget based on new forecasts that show an unexpected $1.5-billion surge in tax revenues.

Honig said he hopes the schoolhouse parties will produce at least 50,000 more letters to Deukmejian urging him to spend much of that money on schools. In addition, the California Movement for Educational Reform is planning to stage a rally for as many as 10,000 parents outside the Capitol on Wednesday.

Whatever the outcome of this year’s budget battle, Honig also is planning to put an initiative on the June, 1988, ballot that would increase the amount of money that can be spent under the state’s constitutional spending lid, known as the Gann Limit after anti-tax crusader Paul Gann.

With the unexpected increase in tax revenues, the limit could take effect this year and restrict the amount of money the state can spend on schools, highways, prisons and a variety of other programs.

“It’s a death sentence for education unless we change it,” said Honig, who envisions using volunteers to obtain the signatures needed to put the measure on the ballot.

“School people are going to have to be the ones who get this initiative qualified,” he said. “It’s up to us really to do it because we’re the biggest stake-holder in the state budget.”

Staff writer Doug Shuit contributed to this story.