College Textbooks Take Bite Out Of Florida High School Budgets

thinkprogress.org

Florida high schools are graded in part by the number of college-level classes they offer high school students.  Those classes require college textbooks, which are more expensive than high school textbooks, and the state doesn’t always give high schools enough money to cover the difference.

When students take college-level classes through their high school, their school has to provide the textbooks.  Last year, Sneads High School in Jackson County was given about a thousand dollars toward those costs. They went about $3000 over.

School principal Laurence Pender says college textbooks don’t last long before they’re considered outdated.  “I bought an art book this last year for a student and with what that art book cost me, I could have bought a textbook that lasted 5 or 10 years if I had them take care of it,” said Pender. “That book is going to be out of date in a year or a semester, and it hurts.”

Pender says the only way he can cover the costs of the college textbooks is to take money away from other departments at his high school.