Arnold Schwarzenegger's previous foray into education policy (a statewide ballot initiative on after-school programs) left something to be desired. [See http://www.edexcellence.net/gadfly/issue.cfm?issue=34#483 for past coverage.] But now he's getting good advice and has chosen former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan as his education secretary. Though the post doesn't have a lot of power, Riordan is a major league education reformer who worked to install a pro-charter, pro-reform school board. (The teachers' union eventually put an end to THAT.) [see http://www.edexcellence.net/gadfly/issue.cfm?issue=24#103] We wish them both well.
"Schwarzenegger fills education, finance posts," by Peter Nicholas, Dan Morain, and Evan Halper, Los Angeles Times, November 4, 2003
"Teachers unhappy with choice of Riordan," by Nanette Asimov, San Francisco Chronicle, November 4, 2003