Robin Hood system needed
COMMENTARY
Josh Deitz

Last week, in the midst of a state-wide funding crisis, the Frisco ISD completed a deal to help finance a new soccer stadium for the Dallas Burn.

Excuse me?

There are school districts slashing teacher’s jobs, unable to buy new books, cutting programs across the board and Frisco can afford to finance a new soccer stadium for a professional team?

This is why Texas has the Robin Hood funding system. There are such wide disparities between school districts that some mechanism has to be in place to offset the enormous swings in school quality between rich districts and poor or middle-class districts. The Robin Hood system is not perfect, but it is absolutely necessary.

The Robin Hood funding formula came as a result of a 1989 Texas Supreme Court ruling that the old funding formula (based solely on local property taxes) had resulted in an education system that was wildly unfair. Texas has a constitutional obligation to provide fair and adequate education to every child, not just those whose parents can pay for it. The Robin Hood system was put into place as a solution.

Unfortunately, the state legislature has used Robin Hood as an excuse to slash state funding for education. In their pursuit of lower taxes, legislators put their pocketbooks before our values. Our nation prides itself on giving every individual an equal opportunity to succeed. This equal opportunity starts in our schools. Every single child in this state deserves an excellent education and that means that we are going to have to help pay for those children who can’t afford to pay for themselves.

The Robin Hood system is essential if we are to provide even adequate schooling for every child. It is impossible for the lower class to pay for schools that are of the quality of those in upper class districts. Punishing children because their parents are not rich is obscene. The grown men and women sitting in the legislature should be ashamed of themselves for putting disadvantaged children on the chopping block to pay for their tax cuts.

That said, the Robin Hood system does need some sort of overhaul. A number of districts in the state have reached or will soon reach the $1.50 for $100 of property value limit on property tax. In addition, a number of districts are being forced to pay out more money than they are able to because of the state funding cuts. The system needs to be adapted in order to allow shifting limits for districts that can afford to pay more and exemptions for those who are being punished for high property values.

The real answer, of course, is for the state to bite the bullet and admit that new revenue sources are needed. This means first cracking down on tax cheats and corporations that are dodging their responsibilities by forming limited partnerships. Beyond this, it is time to consider an overhaul of the tax system. Texas is one of only seven states without an income tax. Instituting even a 1 percent flat tax could revolutionize school funding and avert the coming crisis.

The Robin Hood of legend is a hero to children because he helped those who needed it. Let’s not let the Robin Hood of Texas fail to live up.

Josh Deitz is a junior political science major from Atlanta.