Governor to Form Panel for Schools; Honig Excluded

Gov. George Deukmejian today announced that he is forming a state commission to study public schools and “make sure the taxpayers’ money is being spent wisely,” and said he was purposely excluding state schools Supt. Bill Honig from the panel.

In naming the 15-member commission, the Republican governor said he would not invite Honig to be involved “because of the fact that many of the problems the commission is going to be exploring unfortunately have not been adequately addressed by Mr. Honig.” Honig and the governor have been waging a running battle all year over how much money should be budgeted for schools.

The panel, announced by the governor at a Capitol news conference, will be called the California Commission on Educational Quality, and will be chaired by former San Francisco Mayor George Christopher.

He said the commission will be ordered to file a preliminary report by Dec. 1. Among its tasks will be to:

- “Identify specific reforms and educational techniques which have been proven to work in California’s exemplary schools” and develop ways those can be spread to all schools.

- Simplify the complex school funding formulas.

- Study the effectiveness of 40 special school programs, which range from bilingual and special education to programs for disadvantaged and gifted students.

- Evaluate the need for “greater school safety” and ways to “cleanse our campuses of crime, drugs and delinquency.”

Asked if the commission were designed to embarrass Honig, the governor replied, “It’s not designed to embarrass anyone, but it is designed to try to ensure that money is going to be spent wisely.”