Houston ISD Votes on How to Surrender 'Robin Hood' Revenue

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DALLAS – Voters in Houston Independent School District must decide how they want to surrender $162 million of tax revenue to the state in Tuesday's election.

The unwelcome choice is a product of Texas' oft-criticized "Robin Hood" school financing system that redistributes excess revenue from "property wealthy" districts to those deemed "property poor."

Despite its classification as "property wealthy," Houston ISD's students are some of the poorest in the state, with a majority falling below the poverty threshold.

Tuesday's ballot asks voters in the district to vote yes or no on "Authorizing the board of trustees of Houston Independent School District to purchase attendance credits from the state with local tax revenues."

A "yes" vote means that HISD will pay the state the $162 million in excess tax revenue this year and continue to do so in the future.

If voters vote "no," the state can remove taxable property from the HISD rolls and assign it to another school district. That process is called "detachment." Either way, HISD must share some of its tax revenue with other school districts.

Voting no as a protest of the state's school finance formula could be more costly, experts say.

"Nobody wants their local tax dollars to leave the district, so 'No' seems like an easy vote," said Dale Craymer, president of the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association. "Unfortunately if 'No' prevails, the Commissioner of Education by law must detach approximately $20 billion of high-value business properties from Houston ISD and assign them to a less wealthy district."

"That equates to approximately 40% of all business property and 12% of the total taxable value of the district," he pointed out. "This is not a one-time process. The commissioner will have to continue to detach more property each year as Houston's values rise."

Advocates for a 'yes' vote point out that HISD could escape the Robin Hood provision if property values decline or district enrollment increases. The provision could also be bypassed if Texas lawmakers increase spending per pupil in the 2017 legislative session or in later sessions.

Houston ISD voters must decide the issue because this is the first time the district has been required to share revenue. To meet its obligation to the state, HISD faced a $95 million shortfall that led to cuts in funding for some campuses and the elimination of tutoring positions and a teacher bonus program.

Whatever the voters decide, most educators and administrators remain opposed to the current finance system, despite a Texas Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that the system is constitutional.

Texas House Speaker Joe Straus assigned state representatives to study alternatives to the "Robin Hood" system of financing. Proposals are expected when the 2017 legislative session begins in January.

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