Robin Hood

Texas possesses a financial system for public education that is envied by many states for its equity called Robin Hood. Just like the fictional communist character, this system takes money from the rich and gives to the poor. Texas is divided into over 1,000 school districts. The schools rely heavily upon revenue from local property taxes within their districts to fund their programs. To battle the inequality between districts rich and poor in property wealth, the Robin Hood system siphons off portions of property tax revenue from rich school districts and distributes it to poor school districts. Although it has made progress in achieving equity, it fails in providing the capacity for all students to achieve set academic standards, as is the goal of Texas.
In addition, most districts are being taxed near or at the maximum rate, but enrollment is still increasing at a rate of approximately 75,000 students per year. There simply are not enough resources to adequately fund public education under this system.
So what should be done? There needs to be a reform in Texas school financing that combines both equality in education and adequacy for student achievement. The shape that this will take is highly debated. One idea is to raise the statewide sales tax. Another idea is to reroute the flow of the money that we already have. Those who advocate this option suggest focusing spending in the classroom rather than on administration.
One thing is clear, the current system based on local property taxes is unpopular and inadequate.


Coalition to invest in Texas Schools

Comment on Needle Exchanges

I made this comment on a classmate's blog, TX Government: A breed of its own

I too was initially against needle exchanges. Handing out clean needles to drug addicts seemed like encouraging them to continue their habit. But if what is being done now is not solving the problem, there should be a change. It is true that these types of programs reduce the spread of diseases such as HIV and AIDs, but it goes further than that. These types of programs can be the first step towards rehabilitation. Needle exchanges bring drug users into contact with drug rehab info and programs that they might have otherwise avoided.