109 HCON 463 IH: Expressing the sense of Congress regarding U.S. House of Representatives 2006-07-28 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

IV 109th CONGRESS 2d Session H. CON. RES. 463 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have textbooks that are in poor or bad shape; Whereas 36 percent of teachers must do additional work to supplement outdated textbooks; Whereas 73 percent of teachers in urban schools use own funding; Whereas 24 percent of urban teachers have a hard time preparing their children;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at a maximum of 5 years; Whereas 31 percent of textbooks are 10 years or older; Whereas 14 percent of textbooks have outdated information; Whereas outdated information in textbooks is negatively impacting tests at 20 percent in minority areas; Whereas 88 percent of teachers stress the importance of choosing their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educational goals; Whereas children are tested on information they receive from textbooks; Whereas if textbooks are outdated the children suffer and are placed at a disadvantage; Whereas the Chicago Tribune examined 50 school districts throughout Illinois and found nearly 80 percent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

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.