Easy decision

“Textbook complaints indict local boards” (Our Views, April 5) certainly missed the mark — blaming school boards for not spending more on textbooks in recent years. The logic was that school boards asked the Legislature for flexibility in spending and the Legislature agreed, rolling textbook funding into the state aid funding. The editorial reasoned that if textbooks haven’t been replaced, it’s because school boards have diverted the millions that, in previous years, had been dedicated to textbook funding that were now available to use as they wanted. What the editorial failed to consider is how state aid has shrunk in recent years. In FY ‘14, the state provided school districts with over $33 million dedicated for textbooks and $2.798 billion for common education for 681,578 students. In FY ‘17, the state didn’t have a specific line item for textbooks and provided $2.769 billion for 693,710 students. That’s a decrease of $28.5 million in funding, about as much as was provided specifically for textbooks in FY ‘14, with 12,132 more students to educate.

School boards had to make difficult decisions about funding as cuts continued. The choice to buy textbooks or hire teachers is easy. Old textbooks are better than larger class sizes. For a business that is dependent on a literate population, The Oklahoman seems awfully short-sighted when it comes to education.

Doug Dowler, Edmond

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