His administration's 1963 budget recommendation to the General Assembly devoted 56 percent of expenditures to education. At the governor's request, the legislature created the Governor's Commission to Improve Education, with 25 members appointed by the governor. The body included the first black people appointed to a state commission since the Reconstruction era. Equipped with the commission's recommendations, the following year he stated that Georgia's education system was a "modern crisis" and called for a $30 million increase in taxes to improve schools. This included a 50 cent increase on the tax per gallon on liquor, a 12 cent increase on the tax per case of beer, 1% increase in the corporate income tax, and the elimination of the vendors' commission on collection of the general sales tax. He further requested that the State Board of Education be empowered to establish minimum standards and that $100 million in bonds be issued to fund new educational institution construction. The General Assembly incorporated his suggestions with minimal alterations. Over the course of his tenure, schoolteacher and university faculty salaries were raised, 10,000 additional teachers were hired, a record number of new schools were built, new junior colleges and vocational schools were created, and a Governor's Honors Program was established. Sanders asked the legislature to appropriate funds for airport construction to attract industry to outlying communities. As a result, 33 new community airports were established in Georgia between 1965 and 1966. Georgia's economy performed well during his tenure, and the state had a budget surplus when he left office. While serving as governor, Sanders supported an attempt by the General Assembly to draft a new state constitution in 1963. The proposed document was prevented from being scheduled for a referendum necessary to ratify it by a United States district court, which ruled that since the legislators who had created the constitution were from malapportioned districts, their work was invalid. Sanders was deeply disappointed by the ruling. The decision was later reversed by the United States Supreme Court, but by then there was not sufficient political will to revamp the constitution. On February 17, 1964 the Supreme Court ruled in Wesberry v. Sanders that Georgia had to redraw its congressional districts to comply with the principle of one man, one vote. The General Assembly had only four days to respond before its session was scheduled for adjournment, but Sanders urged it to redraw the districts.