Textbook shortage poses challenge for teachers, students

07:23 PM CDT on Wednesday, August 3, 2005

By Wendell Edwards / 11 News

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School officials around the state are hoping they can turn the page on a growing problem -- a shortage of textbooks.

AP

The delay is mostly affecting fast-growing school districts across the state.

Some growing school districts have more students than books.

Ideally this is not how Denise Miller wanted to start school. The science teacher said, of all the materials she needs, a textbook is crucial.

"If you are short textbooks you have to share among students," she said. "Students who need a little more time with the textbook can't take it home."

In the Cy-Fair School District a textbook shortage means when school starts next week there will not be enough books to go around.

"Cy-Fair is having to deal with a delay in the funding of textbooks," said H.D. Chambers, Cy-Fair ISD Director of General Administration.

The delay is mostly affecting fast-growing school districts across the state.

The Texas Legislature didn't appropriate funds for textbooks until July. As a result, school districts like Cy-Fair just recently began receiving the new books, but the bulk won't arrive until after school starts.

District administrators said this shortage would affect such core classes as social studies and science. But they said it is the students in foreign language classes that will need it the most.

"We will start the school year with the same number of foreign language textbooks that we had in February of last year and that's going to pose a dilemma," said Chambers.

Parents are being notified of the shortage through letters. But it is teachers who must supplement the best way they can.

"It's very difficult because the curriculum is so keyed to the textbook," said Miller.

A shortage could make for one long school year for teachers and students.