The state of Texas has agreed to pay $300,000 to a woman who alleged that it shut down her outdoor foster camp unfairly just to make a politician look good.

Betty Lou Gaines is former director of the Woodside Trails Therapeutic Camp in Bastrop County. She accused former state Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn of pressuring state officials to close the camp after making unproven charges of child abuse and neglect.

Gaines claimed Strayhorn made the allegations against the troubled boys in a 2004 state report about foster care to boost her chances in the 2006 Texas governor's race. Gaines then sued Strayhorn and nine other state officials.

Strayhorn lost the 2006 governor's race and was eventually dropped from the suit. The Austin American-Statesman reports that Gaines settled with the state yesterday before closing arguments began in the federal trial.

Patrick Crimmins, a spokesman for Family and Protective Services, said the settlement makes sense financially and legally.