She’s not complaining, but four children means big costs. Because she’s single she needs work enough to cover bills alone, she said.
One of those costs is paying for school textbooks. All four of her children are enrolled in Indiana public schools, where families are required to pay for their children’s textbooks. The total rental fees can cost upwards of $700 each year.
“I am a teacher,” Cagle said. “I don’t make much money. I am a single parent, no husband, so it is a big burden for me.”
In September, Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz asked for a 3-percent increase in total state school funding for K-12 schools when she submitted the budget to the State Budget Agency. Part of these funds are to help offset the cost of textbooks for parents.
“Our constitution provides for a general and uniform school system that is equally open to all,” Ritz said in a statement released by the Indiana Department of Education. “That is why we have requested funding for textbook rentals and instructional materials for all students.”
Indiana is one of eight states to charge families for textbook costs, according to the IDOE press release.
“In my home state, Missouri, we did not have to pay for textbooks at all in elementary school through high school,” said Cora Henry, a graduate student at IU. “I was surprised to hear that families have to pay for books in Indiana.”
The budget requested by Ritz will be part of the 2015 legislative session and voted on by the General Assembly next year. If Ritz’s request is approved, Cagle said, “It will be a big help.”
In addition to reducing the financial burden on parents, state funding spent on textbooks can lead schools to reevaluate textbook requirements, said Stephanie Simmonds, a teacher in Jackson Creek Middle School.
“I don’t feel the cost of textbooks correlate well with the use of the books. The school I teach in — they don’t use some textbooks, but students need to buy them,” Simmonds said.
But some parents hold different opinions about this requirement. Mark Smith spends $120 for his child’s textbooks every year but said this was not a big burden for him.
Barry Bull, an IU education policy studies professor, thought it was unnecessary to change the textbook system in Indiana. He said not all parents were required to pay textbooks for their children. If the family is below the poverty line, the state pays for the children’s textbooks.
“It’s middle class and rich parents (that) are complaining, but they actually can afford the textbooks,” Bull said.
Although other states pay for textbooks, there are additional problems. In Iowa, where Bull worked for several years, textbooks are sometimes out of date, he said.
“One of the advantages of Indiana’s system is that we have a regular replacement of our textbooks, ” Bull said. ”They are replaced every five years, so our textbooks never get out of date. Our textbooks system is not broken. It actually works quite well.”
