New Challenge To School Funding System
C APITAL Highlights
The Midland school district is suing Education Commissioner Mike Morath and other state leaders in another challenge to the state’s public school finance system, known as “Robin Hood,” according to The Texas Tribune.
Three legal challenges over the past three decades have failed, with Texas courts ruling that the recapture system complies with the state constitution. Under recapture, wealthier school districts — such as Midland, with its considerable oil and gas holdings — send money to the state, which then distributes it to school districts with low property values.
In the case of Midland, the district sent $92 million back to the state in the 2024-2025 school year, sixth highest in the state. Austin ISD sent back the most money that year at $771 million.
“They’re setting the tax rate. We collect the taxes. We send it to the state,” Guinn, the Midland school board president, said last week. “Then we get blamed as a local district and local board member for taxes being high. It’s just a revolving door.”
School administrators have contended that state leaders have not invested adequately in traditional public-school campuses, opting instead to promote charter schools and to create a voucher program that uses public funding for private or home schooling.
Breakaway Buoys Disrupt Rio Grande Bridges Hundreds of federal border buoys broke loose during recent flooding, disrupting traffic at international bridges, the Texas Standard reported. The floating border barrier was installed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It consists of interconnected orange cylinders, each 4 feet high, 15 feet long, and weighing about a ton apiece.
Officials in Eagle Pass temporarily stopped traffic on the city’s two international bridges. That city is also the location of about 2,000 feet of a separate floating barrier installed by Operation Lone Star in 2023. Those buoys remained intact during the recent flooding.
“The state buoys remain intact where they were located initially and have not moved,” Gov. Greg Abbott said. “They’re being reinforced as we speak to make sure they’re not moved.” Many of the federal buoys became lodged into the river, while others floated into Mexico, where some were reportedly recovered by residents and sold as scrap metal. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol said in a statement that contractors were working to recover the remaining buoys.
State Could Overhaul University Funding
Texas could roll out a new funding model for four-year colleges that allocates more money to schools with higher graduation and retention rates, according to the Austin American-Statesman. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board presented the model to university representatives last week. It will propose the plan to lawmakers during next year’s legislative session.
Under current law, four-year colleges receive funding from the Legislature through formula funding, largely based on the number of courses offered and the number of students enrolled. Since 1999, funding has also come from institutional enhancement funding, which is not formula- based and varies widely, from $56 to $5,734 per student. Some lawmakers have criticized enhancements as a “slush fund.”
Sarah Keyton, deputy commissioner of the higher education agency, said the new funding model would make university budgeting more predictable.
The new model, if adopted by lawmakers, rewards universities for progress toward a degree and diplomas awarded. It was created with input from university leaders across the state.
“This formula could really accelerate our progress towards the goals of the state education plan (to) get more students earning credentials of value and entering the workforce and driving our statewide economy forward,” Keyton said.