HARRISBURG — A bipartisan panel of state lawmakers and advisers to Gov. Tom Wolf gave unanimous approval Thursday to a new formula to distribute aid to Pennsylvania's 500 public school districts, a model that would funnel more money to districts with rising enrollment and more students whose families are deeper in poverty.

The formula does not have the agreement of the Legislature, and there are battles that remain to be fought over whether and when to use it.

For the first time, the formula would recognize not just a district's number of low-income students, but the number of students living at the deepest level of poverty — below the federal poverty level — and the proportion of the district's enrollment they represent.

It also would consider a district's enrollment, addressing complaints from growing school districts, and for the first time recognize a district's charter school costs, geographic size and financial wherewithal to fund schools with local taxes. Another element of the proposed formula — the number of English-language learners in a district — has only been intermittently recognized in the past.

For now, the formula endorsed by the Basic Education Funding Commission is being advanced as a way to get politics out of determining which school districts should get more aid.

Education and school groups, including the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, Education Voters Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, endorsed the plan.