Governor George E. Pataki has created a bipartisan commission on education reform to consider issues in school funding raised by a June decision by the state Court of Appeals decision declaring New York City's school funding inadequate.

The commission will compile statewide recommendations on a variety of issues facing the state's schools, including reforming of school funding to ensure that every student in New York receives a sound, basic education.

Frank G. Zarb, former chairman of the NASDAQ stock exchange and now managing director and senior advisor at Hellman and Friedman, LLC, will chair the commission.

The 16-member commission includes members of the state's education and business communities, including David F. Shaffer, president of The Public Policy Institute and corporate secretary of The Business Council. The Institute is The Business Council's research affiliate.

"This new commission is an important next step in our efforts to dramatically reform New York's education finance system, eliminate barriers that prevent children from receiving the educational opportunities they deserve, and give schools the flexibility they need to put state resources to use in the most efficient manner possible," Governor Pataki said.

The other members of the panel are:

• Randy A. Daniels, New York Secretary of State.
• Wellington Chen, senior vice president of TDC Development Corporation, a Queens real estate company.
• Dolores Fernandez, President of Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community College of CUNY.
• Margaret De Francisco, Director of the New York State Division of the Lottery.
• Reverend Floyd Flake, senior pastor of the Allen African Methodist Episcopal Church in Queens.
• Peter Goldmark, former president of the Rockefeller Foundation.
• Gerald Jennings, mayor of Albany.
• William Johnson, superintendent of Rockville Centre Union Free School District.
• Frank Macchiarola, president of St. Francis College in Brooklyn, and former chancellor of New York City schools.
• Juan Tapia Mandoza, a pediatrician in private practice.
• Bishop Henry Mansell of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo.
• Ninfa Segarra, executive director of the New York Police Department museum and former president of the New York City Board of Education.
• Kenneth Shaw, chancellor of Syracse University.
• Randy Weingarten, president of the United Federation of Teachers in New York City.