State School Board Delays Vote on Raising Authority : Education: Some members want even more power than proposed. Attorney general is asked for opinion on the role of the panel and Honig.

A badly divided State Board of Education voted Friday to postpone action on a “memo of understanding” that would increase significantly the board’s authority over educational policy in the state’s elementary and secondary schools.

After some behind-the-scenes lobbying by Gov. Pete Wilson’s office, the board voted 6 to 5 to delay a vote on the agreement until next month.

But the board, led by a faction that wants even more power than is contained in the memo of understanding, voted 7 to 4 to ask Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren for an opinion on how much authority the board has and how much state schools chief Bill Honig has.

Lawyers for Honig and the board warned that this action could lead to a lawsuit that would continue indefinitely the acrimonious dispute among Honig and some board members.

The nine-page memo, drawn up by Howard L. Dickstein, special counsel for the board, and Joseph R. Symkowick, general counsel for the Department of Education, would give the board a more important role in budget preparation and oversight, program review, approval of department directives and other areas.

Dickstein told board members it was a “practical, working document (that) would work if there was a spirit of cooperation.”

Honig, state superintendent of public instruction, said he was willing to go along with the plan outlined in the memo, calling it “a workable system.”

“It will enable us to put this (issue) behind us and get on with the work of education,” he said.

He added that he is “willing to give up some of what I think are my rights” to get an agreement, but only if the board also accepted the memo as the basis for doing business.

Dickstein and Honig cautioned the board that if they rejected the agreement and went to court to win more authority, they might wind up with less.

Joseph D. Carrabino, who earlier was elected board president for a second year, argued that “the document is incomplete--there’s no way for us to enforce this agreement.”

He told reporters that the memo of understanding does not include enough board authority over the Department of Education budget, estimated to be $26.6 billion in the 1991-92 budget proposed Thursday by Wilson.

“Managerially, it’s just not acceptable,” Carrabino said.

Several board members said Maureen DiMarco, secretary for child development and education in the Wilson Cabinet, asked them to postpone action on the agreement for a month, to allow passions to cool.

DiMarco said she requested a delay because “the governor’s office wants an opportunity to review the situation. This is a new Administration and we would like to have positive relationships with both the superintendent and the board.”

By a single vote, the board, which is made up entirely of appointees of former Gov. George Deukmejian, agreed to the delay. It was clear from the vote to seek an attorney general’s opinion that mistrust and ill will still characterize relations among Honig and some board members.

Earlier in the day, board member Kenneth L. Peters said he hoped the group would “signal emphatically an end to the conflict and the maneuvering by this board” that has continued since September.

After the meeting, Peters said he was “distressed” that the matter had not been resolved.

Honig said he hoped Wilson would be a “productive factor” in resolving the dispute soon.

“This is starting to be very time-consuming,” he said. “It’s detracting from our overall mission of educating kids.”