Increased accountability standards, teacher shortages, employee health and property insurance costs, escalating utility costs, construction costs, audit costs and unfunded mandate costs have created extreme financial challenges for every school throughout the state.  Although the House and the Senate have pledged to attack the funding system for public education, the timeline will most likely not be immediate.  The repeal of the following mandates would provide districts flexibility in expending state funds based on local needs.  The AEIS Accountability System, the TAKS Assessment System and the PEIMS System have established statewide standards and benchmarks, expectations, and reporting requirements established by the Legislature. Releasing districts from the following restrictive requirements would provide some financial relief without additional state or local revenue:

1. Eliminate the State Compensatory Education Audit and Leaver Audit, limiting the review to data that is already available without additional costs to the districts;
2. Repeal the expenditure restrictions assigned to State Compensatory Education Funds, which would provided approximately $1 billion per year for district operating budgets;
3. Streamline the DEC process by supporting a process that is less intrusive and is based more on risk factors that are related to the size of districts.

(Supporting details for each of these issues are provided in the TAMS Legislative Agenda Brochure) 

Chapter 41 midsize schools could gain additional financial relief by repealing Section 42.103 (e) of the Education Code.  This would allow the commissioner to make the midsize school adjustment for districts that exceed the equalized wealth level.

Last week I attended the House Hearing on HB 604 and listened to the many testimonials and comments concerning the “death of Robin Hood”.  Naturally, as a superintendent of a Chapter 42 school, I would be remiss if I failed to acknowledge my concerns regarding the future funding for public education.  Although assurances were made concerning the intent to honor equity of funding for all students in the state, schools that are dependent on state funds are naturally experiencing a great deal of anxiety due to this bill.  Many districts and campuses have achieved recognized and exemplary ratings due to the opportunities afforded by “Robin Hood”. One must remember that “Robin Hood” refers to recapture and redistribution of excess tax revenues, it does not refer to the whole current school finance system.  As stated so eloquently in a recent publication of the Equity Center, “When it comes to the provision and funding of public schools, the state cannot legally discriminate in favor of one set of students or taxpayers just because they happen to be in a school district with a high concentration of taxable property value.”

Robin Hood has been described as a system that “takes money from rich school districts and gives it to poor ones”.   Please note that every district that receives state aid from the Foundation School Fund benefits from moneys recaptured from approximately 100 Chapter 41 districts:

It must be noted that wealthy districts (Chapter 41) have access to about $910 per weighted student more that Tier 2 (Chapter 42) districts.  I am not saying that wealthy districts have enough and do not need access to more revenue; however, they do have more that Tier 2 districts with comparable tax rates.  If wealthy districts need more, the same is applicable to all. The Legislature’s constitutional obligation is to efficiently deliver substantially the same educational opportunity to all students, regardless of geographical location of those students.

I would encourage you to maintain the current school finance system until an alternative that eliminates property tax disparities can be adopted.  Hold school districts accountable for established outcomes; however, allow districts the flexibility to utilize compensatory funds for local programs based on local needs, reduce excessive compliance monitoring, and repeal redundant audit requirements.  These requests will benefit all schools!

Respectfully yours,
Mary Ann Whiteker
Mary Ann Whiteker
Superintendent – Hudson ISD
President – Texas Association Midsize Schools