It has been 8 years since the state purchased its last round of reading textbooks. Then the economy was thriving and the State Board of Education (SBOE) managed Permanent School Fund (PSF) was in the black. Today after considerable financial markets turmoil its not.
State senator Florence Shapiro (R-Plano) chairs the Senate Education Committee and said recently that Until that Permanent School Fund starts sending money out we will not be able to pay for our textbooks." Under the Texas Constitution the state is required to provide free textbooks for public school children. However the budget passed by the Texas Senate has finding for reading textbooks contingent upon federal Stimulus Funds being deemed applicable for one-time" purchases which many Austin prognosticators feel may be in doubt. The Texas House scheduled to vote on its version of the budget next Friday April 17th includes full funding of current textbook contracts but just 75 of the 2010 reading textbooks purchase which includes High School reading with new College Readiness Standards as well as bi-lingual reading & literature. The House & Senate actions have lead some education industry followers to ask how enrollment growth and annual purchases of materials such as elementary math workbooks will be covered when only .75 cents of a $1.00s worth of textbooks is going to be handled.
Said Senate Education Committee member Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio) recently The future success of our state is dependent on our success in public education. If we are going to make a real difference for the future of Texas we have to be willing to make a commitment to invest in our schools and in our students and follow through with that commitment."
It gets even dicier nonetheless when drilling down further for details.
All instructional materials are included as a nearly $900 million contingency in the Senate budget meaning materials will only be purchased if the Available School Fund a constitutionally dedicated funding source receives $1.4 billion in market earnings. Given the current economy these gains are unlikely and probably not foreseeable within the current 140-day legislative session.
That forecast has politicians concerned as most of their constituents do not view supplying Texas schoolchildren with reading textbooks as a choice.
If the Legislature fails to fund instructional materials this biennium more than 1 million elementary students will not have math books and materials when schools open in fall 2009. The following year more than 4.5 million Texas school children will not have new reading materials necessary to prepare for the all-important TAKS tests based upon the new state requirements known as the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills).
Senator Shapiro and other lawmakers say that not buying textbooks is not an option. But the $1.4 billion dollars the state needs to purchase the books is not small change either.
Shapiro has stated that because it is not likely the Available School Fund will be able to produce the required monetary profit needed the Senate Education Committee and other legislators have started looking for alternate sources of revenue. And budget writers think they have caught a glimpse of hope.
Representative Rob Eissler (R-The Woodland) who chairs the House Public Education Committee was recently quoted as saying Stimulus money is supposed to be coming and textbooks would be a good place for that money to go."
But theres a catch. Its federal money and the White House has not approved spending on textbooks.
Senator Shapiro has said the U.S. Dept. of Education has not said no" to textbook purchases but they havent said yes either.
If we cant we have a back-up position to pay for those books from another source probably general revenue" said Shapiro.
Said Van de Putte Many of our leaders say that the education of the children of this state is their top priority. I hope that their actions this session will match their words. We cannot continue to demand more of our schools in the form of our school accountability system while providing less in the way of resources to meet those standards."
Theres no word on when Washington will make its decision but lawmakers have high hopes. The Senate budget was prepared with a federal yes" in mind.
With the states first new reading materials in 10 years on the line Texas is facing its most visible and important textbook purchase in years.
And right now legislators chance to invest in Texas childrens futures hangs in the balance.
