Midland ISD sues TEA com­mis­sioner over state's financial recapture system – spectrumlocalnews.com

Midland ISD sues TEA com­mis­sioner over state’s financial recapture system  spectrumlocalnews.com

Midland is challenging how Texas distributes some of its public school funding across the state. TEXAS — Midland is challenging how Texas distributes some of its public school funding across the state. One month after announcing the lawsuit, other districts are discussing whether they should get on board with it too. The heart of this lawsuit is about the state’s financial recapture system, also called Robin Hood. Unlike the book, some districts said this method isn’t benefiting the poor by stealing from the rich. They say it’s just hurting schools, especially economically disadvantaged ones. “I think I'm right and they think they’re right and that’s fine,” said Josh Guinn, the president of the Midland Independent School District school board.

“That’s why we’ll go to court and figure it out there.” Midland ISD filed a lawsuit in late July against Mike Morath, commissioner of the Texas Education Agency. The issue, school board President Josh Guinn said, is the state’s financial recapture system, which the district calls unconstitutional. “When you have a school district set a tax rate higher than what a district needs in order for us to send money back to the state, that’s a statewide property tax,” said Guinn. “You can paint an apple orange and it’s still an apple.” The 1993 law allows the state to collect excess