SACRAMENTO – Education Secretary Richard Riordan is moving swiftly to put his stamp on a state education commission that could revolutionize the way schools are governed, funded and held accountable for student success.

Riordan has nominated confidants as commissioners, recently selected an executive director and expects to see many of his own reform proposals taken up by the Quality Education Commission, which was created in 2002 to help implement a state education master plan that calls for streamlining school funding and transferring power over schools to Riordan's office.

In the next two weeks, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to choose commissioners from a list that Riordan drew up with two names for each vacant seat, recently selected Executive Director Charles Ratliff said. Meetings are expected to start in March.

Ted Mitchell, president of Occidental College and a longtime Riordan education adviser, probably will lead the commission, whose four-person staff will occupy the office suite next door to Riordan's, Ratliff said.

Riordan handpicked Ratliff - a longtime education policy- maker and the master plan's chief writer - after the two had a meeting of the minds in a long interview that consisted of walking up and down the streets near Riordan's office sharing reform ideas.

Although the commission was created to determine how much an adequate education should cost per student, Ratliff said commissioners will likely take up many of Riordan's own recently proposed reforms, which include sending money directly to schools and holding principals accountable for meeting achievement targets.

Riordan also has "been looking at the master plan suggestion" that power over education be vested in Riordan's office, with the state's elected superintendent transformed into an inspector general ensuring that schools measure up to state standards, Ratliff said.

The commission's initial funding recommendations are due to legislators one year after the first meeting. Recommendations on Riordan's other proposals would go to the governor and could form part of future state budgets, Ratliff said.

"It's clear that (Riordan is) having an influence" on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's evolving education policy, said Kevin Gordon, executive director of the California Association of School Business Officials. "I see the commission as a tool to vet all of Riordan's public pronouncements about school funding, and I think the final product is going to be ... very well thought-out."

Though teachers and others in the education community have voiced cautious approval of Riordan's proposals, some doubt they will become reality, even with the Quality Education Commission's backing.

Riordan is "a nice man and approachable, but he does seem to go from one thing to the next," said John Perez, president of the Los Angeles teachers union. "He'd push something. If it didn't work, he'd go off to something else."

Perez said that when Riordan was mayor of Los Angeles, many of his attempts to shrink bureaucracy in the city's school district failed to deliver lasting reform. A ballot measure that Riordan backed to restrict funds for school administration failed at the polls. And a program to turn school governance over to councils of teachers, administrators, parents and other community members fizzled after it failed to spur rapid test-score gains, Perez said.

"I think a lot of people shake their heads and say, 'What is this all about?' Dick Riordan's not an educator. He's a well- meaning gentleman who made a lot of money and was mayor. We have to see," Perez said.

Facilitating the commission's work will be Ratliff, a smiling, open man who finds it hard to stop talking once the topic turns to education. He said his wife sometimes tells him, "Charles, you don't know how to socialize; you only know how to talk business."

Ratliff said he initially applied to be Riordan's undersecretary. But Mitchell recommended him to staff the commission, and during the walkabout interview, Riordan and Ratliff quickly realized they share a common diagnosis of what ails schools.

"The way you get lasting change is, you tie it to the way the revenue flows," Ratliff said. "If it flows in a way that doesn't require innovation, then we become machine-like people who spend like we always spent."

State Sen. DeDe Alpert, D-San Diego, who oversaw creation of the master plan, said she was pleased to hear that the commission likely will expand its mission to encompass Riordan's plans, since many of Riordan's priorities dovetail with the master plan's proposals.

Others are less sanguine. Referring to Riordan's interest in transferring power over education, Hilary McLean, spokeswoman for state schools Superintendent Jack O'Connell, said, "the Quality Education Commission's duties are clearly defined. Nowhere do they outline creating constitutional changes in statute to the education system."

McLean said O'Connell, who did not sign the master plan because it proposed eliminating his office, nevertheless has "high hopes for the commission. We hope it will deliver funds to schools in a more direct and effective way."

A spokesman for the California Teachers Association said his organization, while supporting the commission's primary mission, does not favor concentrating power over education in Riordan's office, which is appointed by the governor. The state superintendent, by contrast, is elected.

Ratliff said that while he anticipates "some pretty animated discussion" about the commission's expanded portfolio, "I think there's a window of opportunity with Arnold Schwarzenegger in office that people haven't seen in awhile.

"He's coming at a time when difficult choices have to be made. And he's an outsider. He's not already bought and paid for. There's a perception that change is possible."

RIORDAN'S PROPOSALS FOR EDUCATION REFORM
• Schools funded at base rate per student, plus extra funds for each student with learning difficulties, such as special-education students or English-language learners.
• Funds flow directly to schools, bypassing school districts. Principals are responsible for school budget and ensuring students reach state education standards.
Riordan has also expressed interest in changes without incorporating them into his plans:
• Transfer authority over schools to education secretary's office, making governor - who appoints the secretary - responsible for education.
• Transform state schools superintendent into inspector general who ensures standards are met.