Honig, Running Again, Gives Himself a B-Plus

State Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig, saying he wants to “keep fighting the good fight for education reform in California,” announced Thursday that he is seeking another term as the state’s top education officer.

Holding an office that offers him a platform for his views but not much power, Honig has campaigned up and down the state for higher academic standards and more money for the schools.

At a Los Angeles press conference Thursday, he ticked off a list of achievements during his first term: School funding has gone up $5.8 billion since 1983, teachers are better paid, students are taking more academic classes and doing more homework, test scores are rising, and the high school dropout rate has fallen slightly.

“I’m not satisfied with where we are, but we’re moving in the right direction,” said Honig, who expects to run virtually unopposed on the June primary ballot.

This contrasts sharply with his situation four years ago. Then, a gawky political novice with a lot of money and even more energy, Honig raced around California lambasting the “incredible deterioration” of the public schools and calling for a “return to traditional education.”

He was dismissed by political pros as an unknown with no backing and was shunned by the education establishment as another shrill critic. In the pre-primary polls of 1982, he registered less than 3% support in a crowded field.

However, thanks to a late TV blitz, Honig vaulted into second place in the primary, and in a November runoff that focused on the condition of California’s schools, he handily defeated 12-year incumbent superintendent Wilson Riles.

Since then, Honig has kept right on campaigning. He has appeared to divide his efforts equally between rallying support for the schools among the business community and the general public and in pushing the education groups to improve the schools.

Reform Act Input

In 1983, his campaign themes were incorporated in a huge school reform act sponsored by Sen. Gary K. Hart (D-Santa Barbara) and Assemblywoman Teresa Hughes (D-Los Angeles), a measure that, among other things, set new high school graduation requirements, raised starting salaries for teachers, lengthened the school day to match the national average, and provided bonus pay for outstanding teachers.

On Thursday, Honig applauded both Republican Gov. George Deukmejian and Democratic leaders of the Legislature for giving a high priority to education, but he pointedly refused to take sides in the gubernatorial rivalry between Deukmejian and Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley.

“I want to be able to work with both sides when it’s over,” said Honig, whose office is technically a nonpartisan one. If a candidate gets more than 50% of the vote in June, he is elected. If no candidate receives more than 50%, a runoff is held in the general election in November.

This time, however, Honig will have the backing of most of the education groups.

‘Made a Lot of Friends’

“Without him, we’d be in real trouble,” said Miles Myers, president of the California Federation of Teachers. Honig has “gone around the state talking to business people, political and labor people, and made a lot of friends that we didn’t have before.”

“We didn’t support him before (in 1982), but he’s been very accessible, very willing to work with teachers,” said California Teachers Assn. President Marilyn Bittle. “We don’t always agree, but he listens.”

Leaders of both teachers’ unions say they expect to endorse Honig before the primary.

Honig’s campaign manager Clint Reilly, says his one real worry in this race is the same perception that helped lift his candidate in 1982: A large percentage of the voters think the public schools are lousy.

Recently, Reilly conducted a private poll for Honig on the voters’ views of public education. Nearly as many respondents said the schools were getting worse as said they were improving.

“There’s a lot of dissatisfaction and frustration with the schools, particularly in the Los Angeles area,” Reilly said, adding that he hopes the voters don’t vent their anger in June on the current state school superintendent.