AUSTELL - State Rep. Alisha Thomas Morgan (D-Austell) wants a state committee to work on closing the achievement gap between Georgia's students by targeting such areas as teacher and administrator quality, school funding and the drop out rate.

Morgan's legislation, House Bill 252, would reinstitute the Closing the Achievement Gap Commission, a body originally created under the administration of Gov. Roy Barnes that never got off the ground when he was defeated by Gov. Sonny Perdue, Morgan said.

Commission members, who would be appointed by the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker and chairs of the House and Senate education committees, would represent a cross section of people in the business and education fields, she said.

Morgan said Georgia ranks among the bottom in the U.S. when it comes to academic achievement.

"The bottom line is we're in the bottom five and that's not acceptable. Part of that is because there are achievement gaps between different groups, and we have to pay attention to them and make it a priority to figure out solutions and implement those solutions," she said.

That's the goal of the proposed commission.

Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers (R-North Cobb) said he likes the idea.

"I support Representative Morgan's efforts at education reform. My hope is that any study to determine what works best in education also includes giving parents free choice to determine the best educational setting for their child," Rogers said.

Dr. Beth Farokhi of east Cobb, a retired educator running for state school superintendent, agrees with the need to close the gap among Georgia's students.

"But there is no reason to create a separate commission," Farokhi said.

"This is the responsibility of the Department of Education and needing to create the commission just shows how ineffective the current leadership has been. When I am elected state school superintendent, closing the gap will be the department's responsibility. The last thing we need is for the Legislature to create another commission when the responsibility of the Department of Education is in place to do that," Farokhi said.

Yet Morgan said the fight to close the achievement gap cannot be left up to just the state school superintendent's office.

"That's one person who determines what the priorities should be. This has to be the priority of the state. There are many stakeholders involved in this," she said.

Morgan said her bill will come before the House Education Committee, of which she is a member, in the next couple weeks.