ATLANTA --- A panel that has spent more than three years studying school funding in Georgia approved its first recommendation to the General Assembly on Monday.
But Gov. Sonny Perdue's Education Finance Task Force, comprised of educators, businessmen, state officials and residents, has yet to propose an overhaul to the formula used to divvy up the money among the state's 180 school districts, and some educators say they're frustrated with how long the process has taken.
The recommendation approved by members who attended Monday's meeting would allow local school systems to enter into contracts with the state dictating how education funding should be used. Districts would get more freedom to spend the money as they see fit in return for promising greater student achievement.
Approving the proposal was a necessary step, task force Chairman Dean Alford said, because it lies at the heart of how much the state will have to spend on education.
"In large part, the partnership between the state and the local systems ... drives cost," he said.
Mr. Alford also said he hoped the panel could get a look at recommendations for a new funding formula within the next 30-45 days.
Educators who have watched the process unfold for more than three years expressed some concern at how long it has taken to get this far.
"I think we all expected that this committee's work would have been completed long before now," said Herb Garrett, the executive director of the Georgia School Superintendents Association.
Mr. Garrett said that any formula produced in the next month or so would land in the middle of a session already crammed with issues such as a state water plan, transportation funding and a proposal by House Speaker Glenn Richardson, R-Hiram, to repeal all property taxes used to fund education.
At least some educators held out hope that the recommendations would be well received by the General Assembly, which Mr. Alford said the panel has worked to keep in the loop.
"Hopefully, the end product will have made the wait worthwhile," said Jeff Hubbard, the president of the Georgia Association of Educators.
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