Split Widens Between Honig, State Panel : Politics: The California Board of Education votes to hire a lawyer to deal with the schools chief. That sparks a confrontation at the board’s meeting.

In a stormy meeting that intensified the battle over control of California education policy, the State Board of Education on Friday voted to hire its own lawyer to resolve conflicts with State Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig.

On a 7-0 vote, with three members absent, the board approved a two-month, $10,000 contract for Sacramento attorney Howard Dickstein, who, as general counsel for the state’s “Little Hoover” Commission, helped to write a report that was highly critical of Honig’s administration of the State Department of Education.

After the vote, Board President Joseph D. Carrabino waved a copy of the Dickstein contract in the air and insisted that Honig sign it. But Honig refused, saying he needed time to read it and consult with department attorneys.

“I’m not leaving here until you sign it,” Carrabino announced, pounding the table with his hand.

“Well, then you might be here for quite a long time,” Honig replied.

He told board members that by insisting on their own legal counsel, “You’re basically saying to me, ‘We don’t accept your good offices, we don’t think you are working on our behalf.’ ”

Carrabino responded: “Bill, you’re going to have to have respect for this board if you want us to work with you; you can’t be out running a one-man show.”

The action widened the split between the board, made up solely of appointees of Republican Gov. George Deukmejian, and Honig, a liberal Democrat.

In an interview earlier in the week, Carrabino, a retired UCLA management professor, said the “fundamental issue” between Honig and the board was one of “checks and balances.”

He said the department handles billions of dollars a year, in federal and state funds, without adequate fiscal controls.

“I know there’s corruption going on,” Carrabino said. “It’s going to surface.”

Asked if he had evidence of corruption, the board president replied: “I know it from my clinical background and experience. When there’s lots of money and no controls, people just are tempted to dip in.”

Department spokeswoman Susie Lange replied that Carrabino’s suggestion of corruption was “outrageous and totally irresponsible.”

In addition to hiring a lawyer, the board voted to double its budget, hire additional staff members to keep an eye on Honig and his staff, to make sure that it approves the Department of Education budget before it is sent to the governor and the Legislature and to see all important department regulations and guidelines before Honig sends them to the state’s 1,000 school districts.

Board members agreed to meet with Honig before incorporating these changes into the board’s bylaws but said they wanted their own lawyer to be present for the discussions.

The superintendent said outside counsel was needed only when a conflict developed.

“I want a lawyer sitting by my side” during the meetings with Honig, Carrabino said.

Earlier in the day, the board voted unanimously to approve new history textbooks that have been the subject of controversy for several months: a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade series published by Houghton Mifflin Co. and an eighth-grade book published by Holt, Rinehart & Winston.