Having a case of déjà vu vu? Don’t worry. Your mind is not playing tricks on you. I have, indeed, lamented about this topic before for Indy K12. In February 2018, I wrote, “Indiana is One of Eight States Where Parents Pay Textbooks Fees. When Will This Change?” In that article, I said, “I know we pay taxes to help fund schools, and I know students need materials to learn, so I didn’t think it was too much to ask for parents to pay for textbooks. Once I learned the majority of U.S. parents do not pay textbook fees, I felt a bit jaded about it, and I want this bill eliminated from my family’s budget.”
When you have only ever lived in one state, at times, you do not realize that what is the norm in your state is not necessarily the norm in other states. In 2018, I reported that eight states had textbook fees. Recently, KPC News reported that the number is now seven. Indiana should eliminate these fees and drop the number down to six.
Below is a copy of the fees I paid this year for one of my sons. I have identical twin sons who are in the same classes. Their textbook total is the same. I paid $240.50 per child for a grand total of $481.00.
What I didn’t mention back in 2018 is that I called the district to get an itemized copy of my sons’ textbook fees. You might say that it looks like the district provided that already based on my fee list from this school year. Here is the problem. That year, my sons brought home a lot of empty workbooks. This made my husband and I feel like our money got wasted. We discovered that the textbook fee included remediation books. My sons did not need remediation, so we did waste our money.
Let look at our 2022-2023 school textbook fees. English 6XA is honors English. I have no clue what the first charge of $17.50 actually paid for. IXL, near the bottom, is an online program. It requires a subscription at the district level for access to lessons and tools beyond the free stuff. That is not even a textbook. As an educator, I have a lot of knowledge about IXL. I know IXL now considers itself a curriculum. Check out the website, and you will see this proclamation:. “IXL is personalized learning. With a comprehensive K-12 curriculum, individualized guidance, and real-time analytics, IXL meets the unique needs of each learner.” Textbook fees have morphed into encompassing technology fees, too.
I don’t know about you, but I could use that $481. My sons went from being shorter than me this school year to being taller than me. I could have brought some clothes so they are not walking around with highwater pants looking like Michael Jackson, but I digress.
If my children are truly entitled to a free and public education, textbook fees in Indiana have to go. I 100% support Governor Holcomb’s push to eliminate these fees.