Gov. Nathan Deal announced Tuesday the appointment of a 20-member committee that will look at how public schools are funded in Georgia.
Four senators and four House members also will serve on the committee created by the Legislature this year to evaluate the current, 25-plus-year-old funding formula that was originally part of the Quality Basic Education Act.
The committee will meet quarterly and complete its recommendations by September 2012.
The members include: University System Chancellor-designee Hank Huckaby; Forsyth County School Superintendent Buster Evans; Lowndes County High School Principal Wes Taylor; 2012 Georgia teacher of the year Jadum McCarthy; Floyd County School Board Vice-chair David Johnson; State School Board member Barbara Hampton; Technical College System board member Lynn Cornett; Professional Standards Commission executive secretary Kelly Henson; Hall County Schools deputy superintendent Lee Lovett; businessman and former State School Board member Jim Bostic; Sens. Fran Millar, Jim Butterworth, Jack Hill and Freddie Powell Sims; Reps. Brooks Coleman, Terry England, Tom Dickson and Margaret Kaiser.
Deal made 10 of the 20 appointments. Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and House Speaker David Ralston each had four appointments. The other two seats will be filled by State School Superintendent John Barge and Scott Austenson, chief operating officer of the Georgia Department of Education.
“The members of this commission have both the knowledge of education and the expertise in education finance required to find the right ways to balance the educational needs of Georgia’s children with the appropriate resources to fund them,” Deal said in a prepared statement.
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