Confirmation Unlikely, Roberti Tells Carrabino

SACRAMENTO —  State Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti on Monday warned Joseph D. Carrabino, often embroiled in controversy during his six years as a member of the state Board of Education, that he probably will not be confirmed to serve another term.

Carrabino and Roberti met privately for an hour in the Capitol to discuss the likely outcome of a Senate vote. Carrabino was reappointed to the board in January by Gov. Pete Wilson but needs 27 votes, or two-thirds of the Senate, to serve for another four years.

“I told him it’s very difficult for him to get a two-thirds vote,” Roberti said after the meeting. “He’s controversial.”

The conservative Carrabino, a former UCLA management professor, has clashed frequently with state schools Supt. Bill Honig, a liberal Democrat, over education policy. Honig has accused Carrabino of being part of a plot to oust him by unfairly charging him with wrongdoing, resulting in conflict-of-interest charges that Honig now faces.

More recently, Carrabino has been accused by education officials of uttering slurs against Jews, speaking critically of minority students’ abilities to learn and being charged by a black teacher with continually calling the teacher “boy.”

Carrabino has denied he holds critical views of minorities.

His confirmation to another term on the board is strongly opposed by the California education Establishment, including teacher unions, school boards and local superintendents.

Usually, when Roberti (D-Van Nuys) says a gubernatorial nominee is in trouble in the confirmation process, it means the candidate has no chance of winning Senate approval.

However, Carrabino seemed to downplay the importance of the meeting with Roberti. “I have a lot of supporters,” he told a reporter.

Later, Carrabino met with top members of Wilson’s staff. Asked if the governor still backs Carrabino, a press spokesman said Wilson “remains hopeful that Mr. Carrabino will receive the votes needed for confirmation.”

Carrabino first was appointed to the school board by Gov. George Deukmejian in 1986 to fill an unexpired term and was reappointed in 1988 to a full four-year term.