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This is the most important task required to fix education. Its so obvious and it’s never on the table, which tells me everything I need to know about “reformer

This is the most important task required to fix education. Its so obvious and it’s never on the table, which tells me everything I need to know about “reformers”. Until this is done, most everything else it shuffling deck chairs.

SOLAR_FIELDS 5y ago
As noted in the sibling comment - this has already been implemented in Texas for almost 30 years now. While studying the outcomes and the way it was implemented is an exercise for the reader, it's hardly the silver bullet your comment makes it out to be.
- nishs 5y ago
  I found this criticism of the Robin Hood plan: https://www.keranews.org/archive/2005-12-12/texas-schools-and-the-robin-hood-plan-a-good-idea-poor-implementation-a-student-voices-editorial https://www.keranews.org/archive/2005-12-12/texas-schools-an.... Let's examine the substance of the points the article makes. > Yet when the money is being transferred to other districts, it becomes a state issue and is therefore a state property tax, which is illegal in Texas. Ah, geez. > Furthermore, taking funds from one district to another makes accountability for funding convoluted [...] how will they ever know if their money is being used constructively? Sure, there's also no way to definitively say that the money is _not_ being used constructively. > The percentage of Texans graduating was stagnant from 1993 to 2003 - stuck at 77%. If the "Robin Hood" system is supposed to bring up the weaker districts (which tend to be the poorer ones), the statistics show no signs of improvement. The graduation rate isn't the sole metric that should be considered to make this argument. And even if it is considered, you'd only want to consider the graduate rate change across time in the weaker/poorer districts, not across the whole state. Is there an article with better criticism? The English Wikipedia entry doesn't really mention any, besides "oh no it's actually a state tax".
  - SOLAR_FIELDS 5y ago
    Agree that both the Wikipedia article I linked and the article you linked are not very good. FWIW, the state property tax illegality issue was somehow addressed shortly after the article you linked was written via some legislation that lowered the minimum obligation to the state and awarded local jurisdictions more leeway to levy their own taxes instead. Here is a more recent article with some numbers that I linked in a sibling comment that details how Texas has essentially painted itself into a corner with Robin Hood funding: https://www.texastribune.org/2019/01/31/texas-robin-hood-recapture-villain-texas-fix-school-finance/ https://www.texastribune.org/2019/01/31/texas-robin-hood-rec... Everyone seems to acknowledge that its current implementation is somewhat problematic but there really isn't a clear path forward for resolving the issues with the system that is tenable in the current Texas political and legal climate.
  - nishs 5y ago
    Found a better one with a decent (but tangential imo) criticism. https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2018/04/06/will-the-truth-about-texas-robin-hood-plan-lead-to-its-demise/ https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2018/04/06/wil... > All those taxes aren’t going to poorer districts; the money goes to the state, which also uses it to offset other parts of the budget. “Where did the state spend the ‘savings?’” says a slide from Taxparency Texas. It lists $2.6 billion for cuts in the business franchise tax and $1.2 billion for increasing the homestead exemption.

SOLAR_FIELDS 5y ago

As noted in the sibling comment - this has already been implemented in Texas for almost 30 years now. While studying the outcomes and the way it was implemented is an exercise for the reader, it's hardly the silver bullet your comment makes it out to be.

nishs 5y ago
I found this criticism of the Robin Hood plan: https://www.keranews.org/archive/2005-12-12/texas-schools-and-the-robin-hood-plan-a-good-idea-poor-implementation-a-student-voices-editorial https://www.keranews.org/archive/2005-12-12/texas-schools-an.... Let's examine the substance of the points the article makes. > Yet when the money is being transferred to other districts, it becomes a state issue and is therefore a state property tax, which is illegal in Texas. Ah, geez. > Furthermore, taking funds from one district to another makes accountability for funding convoluted [...] how will they ever know if their money is being used constructively? Sure, there's also no way to definitively say that the money is _not_ being used constructively. > The percentage of Texans graduating was stagnant from 1993 to 2003 - stuck at 77%. If the "Robin Hood" system is supposed to bring up the weaker districts (which tend to be the poorer ones), the statistics show no signs of improvement. The graduation rate isn't the sole metric that should be considered to make this argument. And even if it is considered, you'd only want to consider the graduate rate change across time in the weaker/poorer districts, not across the whole state. Is there an article with better criticism? The English Wikipedia entry doesn't really mention any, besides "oh no it's actually a state tax".
- SOLAR_FIELDS 5y ago
  Agree that both the Wikipedia article I linked and the article you linked are not very good. FWIW, the state property tax illegality issue was somehow addressed shortly after the article you linked was written via some legislation that lowered the minimum obligation to the state and awarded local jurisdictions more leeway to levy their own taxes instead. Here is a more recent article with some numbers that I linked in a sibling comment that details how Texas has essentially painted itself into a corner with Robin Hood funding: https://www.texastribune.org/2019/01/31/texas-robin-hood-recapture-villain-texas-fix-school-finance/ https://www.texastribune.org/2019/01/31/texas-robin-hood-rec... Everyone seems to acknowledge that its current implementation is somewhat problematic but there really isn't a clear path forward for resolving the issues with the system that is tenable in the current Texas political and legal climate.
- nishs 5y ago
  Found a better one with a decent (but tangential imo) criticism. https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2018/04/06/will-the-truth-about-texas-robin-hood-plan-lead-to-its-demise/ https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2018/04/06/wil... > All those taxes aren’t going to poorer districts; the money goes to the state, which also uses it to offset other parts of the budget. “Where did the state spend the ‘savings?’” says a slide from Taxparency Texas. It lists $2.6 billion for cuts in the business franchise tax and $1.2 billion for increasing the homestead exemption.