Tuesday, March 24, 2009

$900M in textbook funds sought in Austin
Bipartisan proposal cites Obama bucks as source

By Enrique Rangel
Morris News Service

AUSTIN - A bipartisan group of lawmakers Monday urged the Legislature to set aside nearly $900 million to purchase new books and materials for Texas schoolchildren, many of whom are using textbooks nearly 20 years old.

"The future success of our state is dependent on our students in public education," said Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, the author of the Texas Public Schools Investment Act. "Texas faces few more urgent challenges than educating our students in order to prepare them for life in a global economy, and to do that properly we need to make sure that our schools have the resources they need."

Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, said money for the books and the instructional materials can come from either the money the state is getting from President Obama or from the state budget.

"We care about our children, and it is our responsibility as elected officials to make sure that the textbooks and other instructional materials students must have for a quality education do not fall victim to the whims of the stock market," Turner said.

"Using some portion of the federal stimulus education funding to pay for instructional materials such as textbooks and other learning technologies will help ensure that the stimulus funds are not used to permanently grow government or create ongoing obligations for TEA (the Texas Education Agency) or Texas school districts," said Rep. Wayne Christian, R-Center.

The group also released the results of recent opinion polls showing that a majority of Texans want the Legislature to direct more funding toward education.

"This survey shows the public strongly feels the Legislature should guarantee funding for textbooks and instructional materials," said Michael Hinojosa, superintendent of the Dallas Independent School District.

Click here to view the original article in the Amarillo Globe News on Amarillo.com