Wealthy Texas School Districts Kept Millions

HALLSVILLE (AP) – Dozens of wealthy Texas school districts, including one in East Texas, held onto more than $40 million in tax dollars that should have gone to poorer districts until this year, when the state demanded they pay up. The districts owed the money under the state’s so-called “Robin Hood” law of education revenue sharing. The Texas Education Agency discovered the delinquencies during an unprecedented review last summer. Records relating to the review were obtained by The Associated Press under the Texas Public Information Act. The review found that the Hallsville school district went more than a year without paying. The East Texas district used the $8.5 million it withheld from the state to help pay for improvements that helped it to its first exemplary state rating. The district has since had to obtain a bank loan to pay what it owed. Other East Texas school districts on the list are Tatum and Carthage.