Funding Facts
Textbooks and other instructional materials are second only to the teacher in the central role they play in classroom instruction. Well-researched, standards-based instructional materials are an essential key to successful teaching and learning.

Unfortunately, at a time when federal and state governments are demanding higher standards and greater accountability in our schools, far too many students are not given the tools they need to succeed. Students have no real opportunity to learn and to meet their states’ academic standards when they lack access to quality, up-to-date instructional materials. In other words, how can teachers teach and how can children learn when they don’t have instructional materials? Many American schools now face severe shortages of textbooks, and funding for instructional materials in most school districts routinely takes a back seat to many other priorities.

The average state spending for textbooks is .95 percent—less than a penny on the dollar. The problem is not a new one. In 1983, A Nation at Risk, the seminal U.S. education report of the late 20th century, was blunt in its assessment of the situation: “Expenditures for textbooks and other instructional materials have declined by 50 percent over the past 17 years. While some recommend a level of spending on texts of between 5 and 10 percent of the operating costs of schools, the budgets for basal texts and related materials have been dropping during the past decade and a half to only 0.7 percent today.”

While many things have changed since the release of A Nation at Risk, one thing hasn’t: Funding for instructional materials remains at deplorably low levels.

Fact #1:  Less than 1 percent (.09) of the total education dollar is spent on K-12 instructional materials nationwide. (Sources: 2005 projected per pupil expenditure from the National Center for Education Statistics divided by per pupil spending on instructional materials.)

Fact #2: In 2005, average per pupil spending on core instructional materials in U.S. public schools amounted to $75.53 annually or just .42 cents per day. (Sources: National Center for Education Statistics and AAP 2005. A 10 percent reduction was made for sales into private schools. K-12 public school enrollment projections.)

Fact #2: Spending on core instructional materials lags far behind a variety of other U.S. industries. For example:

• Pet Care & Pet Products                       $36.3 billion (2005)
• Toys                                                    $21.9 billion (2005)
• Video Games                                       $10.5 billion (2005)
• Core Instructional Materials                   $4.04 billion (2005)

(Sources:  American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, the Toy Industry Association, the NPD Group/Retail Track, and AAP.)

Fact #4:  In 2005, per pupil spending for instructional materials varied significantly by state – from a high of $92.90 in Indiana to a low of $26.59 in the state of Washington. (Source: AAP.)

Over the years, AAP surveys (click here) have shown that inadequate funding for instructional materials creates a number of problems and negative consequences. For example:

• Lack of instructional materials fuels the “achievement gap” among disadvantaged students.
• Outdated textbooks.
• Classroom disruptions when students have to share books in class.
• Students do not have enough textbooks so that all students can take a textbook home, making it more difficult, if not impossible, for teachers to assign homework.

• Teachers have to purchase supplemental instructional materials using their own funds.

In sum, students do not have the opportunity to learn when they do not have access to current instructional materials. To remedy this situation, AAP recommends:

• Every student in every class must be provided a current standards-based textbook in each of the core academic areas: reading/language arts, mathematics, science, and history/social studies.
• Instructional materials must reflect current state academic standards and they should be replaced at least every five years, or when states make significant changes to their academic standards.
• States need to quickly increase their investments for instructional materials in order to provide all students with the opportunity to learn and to help them meet state and federal educational mandates.

• Every child in a school not making adequate yearly progress under the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) should be provided access to up-to-date and aligned instructional materials. Federal funds should be authorized and appropriated to accomplish this goal.
• State and district report cards should provide information on adequacy and availability of instructional materials.

“Providing textbooks and supplementary instructional materials that reflect the state’s
academic standards are essential elements in the construction of a convincing argument
that students have had an adequate opportunity to learn the content tested
and that teachers have had the resources necessary to teach that content.”