Prop. 174 Stirs Old Flames in Deukmejian

George Deukmejian, private attorney, is sitting in his 40th-floor office at the Gas Co. Tower with a sweeping view that “looks down on”--as he is pleased to point out--The Times.

Deukmejian was in a constant state of pique at The Times editorial pages during his 28 years of elective office, but he can make light of all that now and, anyway, he always got along with the reporters.

Reminders of heady times hang on the walls--pictures of Deukmejian with Ronald Reagan, with George Bush, with Gerald Ford, with Margaret Thatcher. At age 65, the former governor is looking fit, relaxed and prosperous.

Only when he is asked about Proposition 174, the school voucher initiative, do the facial lines tighten and the old ideological juices flow. Deukmejian is working hard to pass Proposition 174 and, in fact, recruited a longtime friend and adviser, Ken Khachigian, to be its campaign manager.

“George’s gotten very impassioned about this,” Khachigian says.

What Deukmejian really got impassioned about during his final years as governor was the education Establishment, particularly the California Teachers Assn. He thought it was ungrateful, selfish and shortsighted. It just wants “to fiddle around on the edges with a little reform here and a little reform there,” he asserts.

And he is convinced that what the public school system truly needs is not a tuneup or even an overhaul, but a completely new powertrain and chassis--a brand new model as envisioned by Proposition 174.

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The former Republican governor subscribes to the entire voucher concept. Public schools should be forced to compete for students, he insists. This will happen if the state offers parents tuition vouchers for about $2,600 a year and makes it financially feasible to choose a private education for their children.

He does not worry about tax dollars being used to subsidize private schooling for rich people. “They’re not all rich,” he notes. “There are a lot of middle-income people who really are struggling. . . . Those people now are paying twice. They’re paying taxes and they’re also paying tuition. Why should they have to do that?”

Because they have a responsibility to contribute to the common good, others would say. And anybody who wants more for themselves should pay extra. But that’s for another day and somebody else to argue.

Deukmejian has given up on the whole public school system, even though all three of his children and he himself attended nothing but public elementary and high schools and everybody turned out fine. He just feels the present system is in irreversible decline.

He has not come to this point easily.

Deukmejian was considered an “education governor” early in his first term. He signed and funded a landmark reform bill--SB 813, the number rolls off his tongue. During his eight-year tenure, he increased school funding 115% while student enrollments rose only 23%; all the figures are over there in his desk, he says.

“There were two defining incidents when I was governor that helped form my opinion,” he explains. One occurred when he invited education leaders to his office to discuss prioritizing programs--spending more money on the best and eliminating the worst. “What they wanted was full funding for every existing program,” he says. “They didn’t want to talk--nothing.”

Then later, Deukmejian offered schools more money to reduce class sizes. The CTA objected, he says, because it wanted all the money to be used for teacher salaries.

Deukmejian and Bill Honig, the state schools chief, constantly feuded. Honig said the governor was “a disaster.” Deukmejian called him a “snake oil salesman.” Honig and the CTA retaliated by leading the successful fight for Proposition 98, giving schools a funding guarantee. The CTA earlier had opposed both of Deukmejian’s gubernatorial races.

Deukmejian now is reciprocating by speaking out and raising money for Proposition 174--his first major political venture since leaving the Capitol in 1991.

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Life has been “terrific,” he says. Practicing law (Sidley & Austin) is “wonderful. I don’t have anywhere near the headaches or pressures. I don’t have to work as hard.”

The big income has not changed his conservative lifestyle, however. The Deukmejians live in the same three-bedroom Long Beach house they bought in 1960. The couple has simple pleasures.

Last weekend, they drove to Sacramento--up California 99, down I-5 for variety--so Gloria Deukmejian could judge a scarecrow contest. They stayed in a moderately priced chain hotel.

“You want to know something funny,” he says. “We’re at the hotel and the CTA’s having a leadership meeting. They’re all there. I kept a low profile.”