Honig Decries Governor’s School Cuts, Pledges Fight

SACRAMENTO — Gov. George Deukmejian’s move to slash school spending, including funds for a highly regarded testing program, prompted State Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig to call the governor’s actions “spite cuts . . . made out of anger and vindictiveness.”

“This is an out-and-out attempt to try to make education pay for our victory in the Legislature,” Honig told a late-afternoon news conference Tuesday.

The schools chief referred to the fact that the Legislature, under heavy pressure from the educational community, refused to suspend Proposition 98, which assures public schools and community colleges at least 40% of state General Fund revenues each year.

But the governor found two areas in which he could control Proposition 98 funds: He impounded $264 million in cost-of-living reductions and he moved $198 million in Proposition 98 money into the schools’ reserve fund where it can be used only for an emergency.

Deukmejian reduced the school money “so we didn’t have to cut any further in mental health,” said Cindy Katz, assistant finance director, speaking for the Administration.

But Honig said the “impounded” Proposition 98 funds could not be used for mental health or any other state programs.

“What he’s saying is, ‘I can’t get the money from you but you can’t spend it, either,’ ” Honig said. “It’s a way of paying us back. But who actually pays? The kids do. It’s a rotten thing to do.”

Honig said he would explore possible legal action to restore the Proposition 98 cuts. Department of Education officials said the Proposition 98 reductions amount to about $100 per pupil and predicted that such reductions would have devastating consequences in many districts, including Los Angeles.

“It’s just a catastrophe,” said Jackie Goldberg, president of the Los Angeles Unified School District board.

Goldberg said the Los Angeles district will have to cut about $60 million more from its nearly $4-billion budget for the 1990-91 school year.

The board just finished a series of painful cuts, amounting to about $220 million and resulting in the layoff of nearly 300 people. Now it will likely have to cut programs that provide services such as nursing to children, as well as further layoffs among its non-teaching staff.

Katz also said the money saved by cutting the cost-of-living adjustment would provide for reductions in class size, but Honig said the Administration has no plan to cut California class size, which is among the highest in the nation.

Class sizes are too large and should be reduced, Honig said, “but not at the expense of the basic budget.”

In addition to the Proposition 98 reductions, the governor sliced $18 million from the Department of Education’s budget, including the much-praised California Assessment Program (CAP).

Honig said the elimination of the $13-million testing program would mean no 12th grade testing for California students next year and might mean the end of the testing program altogether, unless local school districts or the Department of Education can find another funding source.

In Los Angeles, CAP tests have been used to measure achievement of the district’s 610,000 students.

The department would be responsible for making the other $5 million in cuts, officials said.

The superintendent, surrounded at the news conference by representatives of teachers’ unions, school administrators, school board members and other educators, said a coalition would “mount a public campaign” to try to persuade the Legislature to override Deukmejian’s cuts.

Times education writer Sandy Banks in Los Angeles contributed to this report.