ERIC Number: EJ755685
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004-May-12
Pages: 2
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0277-4232
EISSN: N/A
"Robin Hood" on Ropes in Texas School Aid Tilt
Hoff, David J.
Education Week, v23 n36 p1, 24 May 2004
Texas has had its Robin Hood school financing system in place since 1993, when the legislature adopted the system in response to a state supreme court order to equalize state spending on public schools. Under the arrangement, any district that has taxable property values exceeding $305,000 per student is not allowed to keep all of its property-tax revenue. It must send money to the state, consolidate with another district, or give excess funds or valuable property to a property-poor district. The state refers to the process as a "recapture" of funds. It is commonly called the Robin Hood method because districts in wealthy suburbs and oil-rich areas subsidize communities with high poverty. This article discusses the Texas approach of funneling money from wealthy districts to poor ones as a way to equalize school spending. Though it's unclear what will replace the current school aid system, the pending changes show the difficulties that policymakers there have found--in Vermont and other states--when trying to take from the rich and give to the poor. Such systems face political snags as taxpayers watch their money leave their local schools. Thus, the fear is that efforts to equalize funding will mean less money to sustain the high-caliber schools people are used to in well-to-do communities.
Descriptors: School Support, Economically Disadvantaged, Educational Finance, Educational Equity (Finance), Tax Allocation, School District Wealth
Editorial Projects in Education. 6935 Arlington Road Suite 100, Bethesda, MD 20814-5233. Tel: 800-346-1834; Tel: 301-280-3100; e-mail: customercare@epe.org; Web site: http://www.edweek.org/info/about/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Texas; Vermont
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A