By LIBBY CLUETT | lcluett@mineralwellsindex.com
Texas has added 23 newly wealthy school districts to its list of Chapter 41 public school districts – those considered property-wealthy.
Not only are there more “wealthy” districts, the state now has a record 374 districts required to give some of what they raise in local tax revenue to the state for distribution to poorer schools.
The funding scheme is part of Texas’ so-called “Robin Hood” school finance system, which began in 1993 with 35 districts considered wealthy enough to be subject to sharing their property tax revenues.
The number of school districts subject to the state’s recapturing of tax funds has increased more than 10-fold and represents more than a third of the state’s 1,000-plus school districts.
Some districts have increased property tax rates or seen their tax bases grow due to population booms.
But a key reason the list keeps growing is higher property wealth in some parts of Texas.
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