[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 463 Introduced in House (IH)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 463

      Expressing the sense of Congress regarding textbook equity.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 28, 2006

   Mr. Davis of Illinois (for himself and Mr. Shimkus) submitted the 
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                      Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
      Expressing the sense of Congress regarding textbook equity.

Whereas 84 percent of teachers nationally stress the importance of textbooks for 
        learning;
Whereas 16 percent of students nationally do not have enough textbooks;
Whereas 29 percent of students nationally do not have enough textbooks to take 
        home;
Whereas 37 percent of homework comes from textbooks;
Whereas 33 percent of teachers say the achievement gap has widened;
Whereas 32 percent of teachers have class disruptions because of sharing;
Whereas 15 percent of students have textbooks that are in poor or bad shape;
Whereas 36 percent of teachers must do additional work to supplement outdated 
        textbooks;
Whereas 73 percent of teachers in urban schools use own funding;
Whereas 24 percent of urban teachers have a hard time preparing their children;
Whereas 68 percent of teachers say an up-to-date textbook is replaced at a 
        maximum of 5 years;
Whereas 31 percent of textbooks are 10 years or older;
Whereas 14 percent of textbooks have outdated information;
Whereas outdated information in textbooks is negatively impacting tests at 20 
        percent in minority areas;
Whereas 88 percent of teachers stress the importance of choosing their own 
        textbooks;
Whereas 32 percent of the time teachers of white students are able to choose 
        their own books;
Whereas 17 percent of the time teachers of black students are able to choose 
        their own books;
Whereas the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 established Federal requirements on 
        States to meet educational goals;
Whereas children are tested on information they receive from textbooks;
Whereas if textbooks are outdated the children suffer and are placed at a 
        disadvantage;
Whereas the Chicago Tribune examined 50 school districts throughout Illinois and 
        found nearly 80 percent use textbooks in a main academic area that are 
        at least 8 years old and about 22 percent have books that are at least 
        15 years old;
Whereas the San Jose Mercury News lists a survey in which 21,000 California 
        textbooks in 395 schools statewide were missing, damaged or out of date, 
        and 45 out of 58 superintendents from those schools list their schools 
        as strikingly low on the State's performance index;
Whereas States such as Louisiana and Georgia allot less than $27 per student 
        annually for textbooks while the average cost of just one textbook 
        averages at $50;
Whereas the NEA/AAP national survey found urban schools to be twice as likely to 
        have an inadequate supply of textbooks;
Whereas 1 in 3 teachers nationwide reported using textbooks 10 years old or 
        older;
Whereas many schools across the country have forced students to pay for 
        textbooks to compensate for the lack of funding, further perpetuating 
        the ``achievement gap'' between different socio-economic groups; and
Whereas the national graduation rate for males is 65 percent overall, with 73 
        percent of white males graduating in comparison to just 48 percent of 
        African American males and 49 percent of Latino males: Now, therefore, 
        be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),  
That--
            (1) it is the sense of Congress that--
                    (A) all students deserve up-to-date textbooks in 
                order to meet national education requirements; and
                    (B) each State should ensure that poorer school 
                districts should have the same or similar up-to-date 
                textbooks as students throughout the State; and
            (2) therefore, to uphold the equal dignity of all American 
        students, this Congress resolves that primary and secondary 
        schools shall receive equitable funding for textbooks in order 
        to rectify the textbook disparity.
                                 <all>