Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett delivered a court opinion May 13 that holds the Texas school finance system as constitutional, validating the oft-criticized "recapture" concept.

“Despite the imperfections of the current school funding regime, it meets minimum constitutional requirements,” Willet said in his opinion.

Recapture, also known as "Robin Hood," is a system through which property-rich districts, such as Austin ISD are required by law to send some of their property tax revenue to the state to be redistributed among districts deemed property-poor.

For years, school districts including McKinney ISD have battled the Texas State Board of Education and the Texas Education Agency over the legality of recapture.

"A ruling by our highest state courts is not necessarily an endorsement of our current school finance system, nor should it be interpreted as such," said Rick McDaniel, MISD Superintendent. "Our current system of school finance is, without question, in need of major improvements. That said, this ruling only suggests that our current system meets the minimum requirements to fund our Texas school system."

McDaniel said he believes the state and its students deserve more than a "minimum level of education."

"Our legislators have the power to change this in the very near future, and it is my hope that they will continue to look for avenues to improve our current system and provide our school districts and students the support they need and deserve," he said.

The TEA deferred to the Office of the Governor for comments about the ruling.

In a statement, Gov. Greg Abbott said the ruling is a "victory for Texas taxpayers and the Texas Constitution."

"The Supreme Court's decision ends years of wasteful litigation by correctly recognizing that courts do not have the authority to micromanage the state's school finance system," Abbott said.

View the Texas Supreme Court ruling here.