Wants to Account for Money; Honig Left Off Board : Governor’s Panel to Investigate Schools

Gov. George Deukmejian, moving to undercut state Schools Supt. Bill Honig, appointed a commission Wednesday to investigate the management and performance of California’s schools during the tenure of Honig, one of the governor’s most vocal critics.

Deukmejian, who maintained there is “no leadership” within the school system, excluded Honig from his 15-member panel. The commission is not designed to “embarrass” the superintendent, Deukmejian said, but will seek to determine why some school districts are suffering budget shortages despite a large infusion of state money over the last four years.

“When we hear complaints that some schools don’t even have enough money for books and materials after receiving all the money they have received, then something is wrong,” Deukmejian said at a Capitol press conference.

Honig, at a press conference of his own, said he welcomes the governor’s investigation. He predicted that the commission will conclude, as he has, that public schools need more money if they are going to improve the quality of education in California.

“I personally am going to cooperate and support this commission,” Honig said. “I think they are a fair group of people, they are knowledgeable about education and we welcome the chance to take our case to the commission.”

Deukmejian’s decision to investigate the school system climaxes a six-month battle with Honig over education funding.

Honig, who has pushed for programs to improve the quality of education, has vociferously criticized the governor’s 1987-88 spending plan, which he contends gives too little money to schools, from kindergarten through high school. In turn, Deukmejian has called the schools chief a “demagogue” and last month cut the budget of Honig’s Department of Education.

Deukmejian was prompted to create the commission in part by Honig’s repeated complaint that some school districts did not have enough money to buy books and instructional materials, his aides said. Deukmejian pointed out that the state has already increased funds for schools by $8 billion since he became governor.

“If we had seen a better performance for the amount of money that has gone into K-12 (kindergarten through high school), there might not have been a necessity for this type of thorough review,” Deukmejian said.

To head the commission, Deukmejian named former San Francisco Mayor George Christopher, 79, a Republican and a campaign supporter of the governor.

He also appointed former state Schools Supt. Wilson Riles, 70, a Democrat who served three terms before losing to Honig in 1982.

The Republican governor said the goals of his commission include making state and local school officials more accountable, simplifying the complex system of school finance and identifying specific reforms and educational techniques that have been proven to work. The group will also evaluate 40 educational programs designed for special groups of students--many of them aimed at poor and minority groups--which the governor has repeatedly criticized.

“Many of the problems this commission is going to be exploring unfortunately have not been adequately addressed by Mr. Honig,” Deukmejian asserted. Asked to identify which problems he meant, the governor said, “Pick any one or all of the above.”

Continuing his attack on Honig, the governor added: “There’s no leadership at all within the (school) system to maximize the resources. Apparently there is only a willingness to constantly ask for more money for each and every existing program.”

As superintendent, Honig oversees the state’s public school system for kindergarten through grade 12. In many respects, however, his role is an advisory one, because individual school districts are governed by their own locally elected boards.

Despite his exclusion from the commission, Honig said he saw its formation as an opportunity to debate the future of education in California, his program of school improvement and the need for a greater financial investment in the schools.

While funding for the schools increased this year, Honig maintains it is not enough to keep up with increasing enrollment and will result in cutbacks this fall in many school districts.

“We were disappointed we didn’t have participation but we think it’s a fair group and we’re willing to work with them,” said Honig, who is officially nonpartisan. “Any fair group that takes a look at the situation is going to say we’re getting shortchanged as far as the budget.”

Deukmejian, who recently cut a total of $663 million out of the state budget, said he did not know how much his commission would cost the taxpayers. “We’ll take care of that,” he said.

Deukmejian still has seven seats to fill on the commission. Of his first eight appointees, all were Republicans except for Riles. The other commissioners named by the governor Wednesday are:

- William Johnston, 61, former Los Angeles Unified School District superintendent, whom the governor earlier appointed to the California Lottery Commission.

- Developer Roy Brophy, 65, a member of the University of California Board of Regents.

- Keith Chun, 52, a member of the California Teachers’ Retirement Board and the Fresno Unified School District Board of Education.

- B.T. Collins, 46, former chief of staff to Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. and now a vice president of the financial services firm, Kidder, Peabody & Co.

- Armen Sarafian, 67, a member of the state Board of Education and president of the University of LaVerne.

- Barbara Stone, 44, a political science professor at California State University at Fullerton and a member of the state watchdog Little Hoover Commission.