How will this education budget crisis effect the Robin Hood tax skim? (Houston: 2013)

[loves2read]

Does anyone know what will likely happen with the Robin Hood process--where the state skims money of districts that it deems too wealthy and passing that money (instead of its own) to other districts it deems eligible???

Some districts are able and may try to raise their own ISD tax rates to pull more money from their tax base--
will that in turn make them more liable to have money siphoned off by the state?
So that it won't stay in the local district?

Have not seen anything in local paper about whether or not the Robin Hood plan would be in operation for this next school year when the budget takes effect...
surely since the state is drastically reducing its contributions to districts none of them will be a victim of Robin Hood next year

except maybe the wealthiest like HPISD and the ones in West Texas with significant local oil production where tax/sales revenue might have been fairly constant

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by loves2read

except maybe the wealthiest like HPISD and the ones in West Texas with significant local oil production where tax/sales revenue might have been fairly constant

Yes, HPISD **is** wealthy, but it is not immune to budget pain. The Robin Hood recapture is the #1 line item in the district's budget....it is currently 57% of the district's annual spend. that is insane. The district has given over $1,000,000,000 (that's ONE BILLION, or 1/9th of the state's entire education fund deficit for the 2011-2013 budget) back to the state's Robin Hood "pot" in the past 19 years.

The district currently relies on $2.5M of "gifts" from local residents and businesses to close the $52M operating budget- this funds $3,250 towards each teacher's salary so the district can offer a competitive salary- nowhere near the highest salary.

The district gets $12M in state funding and sends $70M back.

You can factually call the district wealthy due to the amount of property taxes collected, but under Robin Hood the district does not even come close to operating as a "wealthy" district should run.

Sorry for the rant, but the idea that HPISD would not be affected by losing $8-9M of it's $12M state funding is preposterous. It is difficult enough to raise $2.5-3M in private district funding each year. Setting a goal of $10-12M in private funding for next year (20% of the district's spend) is laughable.

[TurtleCreek80]

It would be a huge coup to get RH overthrown due to current budget crisis, but I dont think we'll get that lucky.

[ImOnFiya]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

It would be a huge coup to get RH overthrown due to current budget crisis, but I dont think we'll get that lucky.

No, I don't, esp. since Robin Hood was enacted because the US Dept. of Education was threatening to sue the state of Texas because the vast education disparity amongst Texas schools between poor and rich school districts. So much so, that in many cases the poor districts resources for books, infrastructure, and training were below federal standards.

Folks, Robin Hood wasn't made up out of thin air.

Conservatives, if you believe in social darwinism openly (as many of you do privately), say so. But, don't make snide comments and think you won't get busted. Remember, you are in Texas. Some of us were raised under a rod, and don't mind swinging one..

[loves2read]

TurtleCreek--
did not mean to offend--I know that HPISD does pay into Robin Hood (my son taught there)
but just meant it has other assets to fall back on--


and I think you mean the NEED for Robin Hood was not made up out of thin air--and I agree with that--

IF there was a need for certain districts to receive MORE subsidized per student payments--the state had the option of making those monies up from the GENERAL tax revenue or even a special tax state wide--
the choice to use ISD that had richer tax resources and who had residents willing/able to levy HIGHER property tax rates and vote for bond packages made it easy for the state to do two things--
absolve itself from any type of oversight as to how well managed those districts were to start with that were screaming "foul"
AND enabled the state to avoid raising taxes on the public as a whole--
it was much easier to raid ISDs and threaten to NOT give them state money for their students if they did not comply--the state was a bully...

At the time that Robin Hood went into effect--the Edgewood district in San Antonio area was one of the original and most vehement complainers about not having enough money to service the needs of its students. Yet that district was also paying twice as much money on per diem as my local ISD--yet we would have to give up Robin Hood money --
no audits were done by the state to evaluate how monies were spent INSIDE the ISDs to determine if they were maximizing the tax monies they received or if there was wasteful spending that could have been ameliorated -- nope
the state used statistics that did not require any MANAGEMENT oversight--so districts that were wastful and made bad decisions and had contract kickbacks out the kazoo could continue to do that and even get MORE money to do it with...

I taught in Houston ISD in early 70s right out of college in what is was then called a "ghetto school"--black community right off the Ship Channel--and frankly I can say from personal experience there was definitely a double standard within HISD about how its tax monies were shared--
while the Ship Channel and the commercial businesses in the area produced tons of revenue for the city--because the school was basically in a slum--it did not get see a lot of the sharing of the wealth that other schools across the city did
and our principal was a crook---pretty much common knowledge among the teachers who had been there for years--
but not lot of oversight from HISD either--
out of sight, out of mind so to speak...
and I am thinking that Houston probably gets lot of Robin Hood money and I doubt that things have changed all that much...

not a big fan of Robin Hood at all...the court order that was supposed to make it more fair failed to accomplish that

[TurtleCreek80]

I understand the intent....but how RH has played out over two decades is disturbing.

The Republican in me would like to see the wealthy (and well-educated) districts "teach other districts to fish" (to use the parable) so they can feed themselves. My excellent education in HPISD had little to do with physically nice schools or shiny classroom toys. I owe my education to innovative & inspired teachers (well, 90% of them....there were a few bad one's too!) and my own parents' involvement with my studying & extra enrichment like family trips to historical or cultural sites or my dad's willingness to practice Spanish with me.

I wish RH did more than just shuffle money around and actually paired poor performing/poor financially districts with wealthy/ high performing districts. The level of teaching could be raised significantly. College-prep counselors could mentor their counterparts in low-college bound districts. Parents could mentor & foster a functioning PTA in other districts. It would be nice know exactly WHO our money is benefitting- the same way I feel more satisfaction volunteering at my Junior league placement than I do writing a $100 check to the same agency, but for luncheon tickets.

But when there is PROOF that districts are using RH money to build new scoreboards instead of investing in teacher training or giving stipends towards teachers earning a Master's degree....it is incredibly frustrating to watch my hard earned money (and I don't say "my" meaning just HP, as Dallas ISD/Richardson/ Rockwall/ Plano/ McKinney/ Carroll/ Coppell/ Frisco/ etc are all among the property "rich" areas....as with all the tax paying residents of Houston ISD, Austin ISD....

When your three biggest cities are all considered "rich" despite having a student base that is 50-70% poverty level.....something is WRONG!!!