*Part one of a series*
In the world of a downward-spiraling economy, the last thing anyone wants to be told is they have to send out more money. That is what has been told to the wealthier districts of Texas by the equalization of funds plan, also known as the “Robin Hood Plan.”
In 1984, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed suit against William Kirby, then Texas commissioner of education, on behalf of the Edgewood Independent School District in San Antonio. The lawsuit alleged the funding system – based largely on local property taxes and state aid – was not only unconstitutional, but it deprived them of the same per-student funding as wealthier districts. The Texas Supreme Court agreed and began attempts to equalize the funding between wealthy and underprivileged districts.
That’s where Robin Hood stepped in, no not the Robin Hood from Sherwood Forest but one very similar. The Robin Hood Plan embodied the idea of “robbing” from the wealthier school districts and “giving” to the less fortunate districts. According to an article in The Dallas Morning News, the legislature made more than one attempt to fix the system before finally agreeing on the Robin Hood Plan, which took property tax revenue away from wealthier districts and redirected it to districts in need. The law was upheld in 1995 in a decision written by former Justice John Cornyn.
The amount of funds pulled out or taken in by these school districts is based on several things such as the county tax base in that county, the value of surrounding properties, and the weighted attendance daily average (WADA) the school has. WADA is the breakdown of the ethnic, disabled, and special education population in the school.
There has not always been peace between the districts with the plan and in 2006, Dallas, as well as hundreds of other districts, brought another round of litigation to the Texas Supreme Court saying again it was unconstitutional because of reliance on property taxes. Robin Hood remained unchanged. However, a new finance law was passed in a special session, which reduced local property taxes and replaced the revenue with new business and cigarette tax.
One of the districts still not happy with the plan is the Wimberly Independent School District just outside of San Antonio. This district recently refused to share their property tax revenue creating yet another conflict with the plan.
As reported in The Dallas Morning News, “We’re not going to pay for it, our teachers are some of the lowest-paid in the area. Our buildings need massive repairs. We keep running a deficit and they still want us to give money away,” Gary Pigg, vice president of the Wimberley ISD Board of Trustees, said. “It’s unconstitutional and I’m ready to go to jail if I have to.”