ATLANTA (AP) -- A key state legislator said Georgia lawmakers are considering creating a new panel to review school funding.

House Education Committee Chairman Brooks Coleman told Morris News Service he hopes the new panel could draft recommendations next year.

The panel is expected to revise the complex school funding formula established by the Quality Basic Education Act of 1985. That formula factors part-time students, property tax values, school size and other considerations. But critics say an update is needed because of changing demographics in the 25 years since it became law.

Two other special commissions have been appointed to examine the formula. The most recent, appointed by Gov. Sonny Perdue, concluded
schools were underfunded but disbanded without recommending a revision.