Newspaper: Rising textbook prices outpace inflation

Sunday December 15, 2002

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) The average price of an English textbook for California public school students has increased more than 200 percent in the past 10 years, according to a newspaper's investigation.

Rising textbook costs are outpacing inflation, home prices and teacher salaries, the San Jose Mercury News reported Sunday after analyzing state records.

Math book prices have risen 156 percent, the paper said.

Publishers defend the increases, saying that meeting California's new standards is expensive. But the newspaper reported that publishing house mergers may have fueled the problem by quashing competition, and that the state's school board doesn't bother to haggle for the best deal.

Under California's system, schools must purchase texts approved by the California Board of Education. Because the state also has imposed new academic standards, all districts must replace their books.

``We know the price at adoption but do we negotiate with them? No,'' said Marion Joseph, the state board member who steers the board's book-selection process. ``I'm hellbent on standards. I'm not a money person. I never think about money.''

California spends as much as $400 million a year on books for its 6 million students.

Assemblyman Bill Leonard, R-Rancho Cucamonga, who, until recently, served on the education finance subcommittee, said the board's selection process was like shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue blindfolded.

``This doesn't pass the real-world test. That's not the way you and I buy things,'' Leonard said. ``At some point we ask, 'How much?'''

While they don't hunt for bargains, California officials said they're guaranteed reasonable prices under a state law that prohibits booksellers from charging less in another state for the same book. It's an unregulated honor system California shares with 21 other states.

The Mercury News found one case in which a sixth-grade English book, ``The Language of Literature,'' published by McDougal Littell, was adopted by the Texas board in 2001 and sold for $50.49. The following year in California, a nearly identical book sold for $55.96, 7 percent more after adjusting for inflation and differences in delivery costs. With more than 400,000 sixth-graders in California, the lower price on that book would have saved the state nearly $2 million.

California officials said they weren't aware of the disparity, and couldn't explain it without examining both 800-page texts. McDougal Littell said the free teachers' edition accompanying the California book was pricier to produce, but declined to say by how much.

Critics say more consumer protection and aggressive legislative oversight are needed.

``We have done a poor job bargaining for the best price and there's no doubt the publishers are taking advantage,'' Leonard said. ``You'd think districts and the state would want a better deal for their dollar.''

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)