July 17, 2014 5:35 PM

Results unclear for textbook changes

Advances under instructional material bill possible but uncharted

Four years after the legislature’s massive overhaul of the state’s textbook and technology allotment, it’s still unclear whether intended price controls have materialized, if the available array of instructional materials has broadened or even if the march on technology was improved in the process.

What was clear at this week’s State Board of Education meeting was no anticipated disbursement to the Available School Fund was going to cover multiple instructional material proclamations at once. With more than $800 million in anticipated expenditures already on the table for math, science and technology, member Thomas Ratliff pulled the plug on Proclamation 2016, pushing the adoption of materials around languages other than English back an additional year.

Ratliff told his colleagues that the board’s anticipated payout for textbooks, which could add an additional $600 to $800 million for the biennium, would not be enough to cover all the various instructional material proclamations currently on the table.

And if you don’t think Ratliff’s projection is stark, consider the fact the wheels of the State Board of Education continue to turn, with career and technology education on the agenda for review this year and a new look at English/language arts next year. All will be followed by materials, be it print, digital or some hybrid in between.

By Kimberly Reeves