Most of North Carolina's public schools are preparing to do more with less this year. The State's General Assembly cut funding for new textbooks by nearly 80 percent, which means many schools will have to recycle old ones...again.
Guilford County high school English teacher Elizabeth Hackney says this is another headache she doesn't need.
“I think our last text book came in 2004 or 2006. Right now, we have a few that are held together with duct tape and spit." says Hackney. "The kids just look at me when I give them their books because they don't have covers anymore. I feel embarrassed giving them that book.”
The Guilford County School System will get $1,063,471 toward new textbooks to spread across 126 schools.
Teachers in neighboring Forsyth County will have the same problem. The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School District will get $797,743, a big drop from the $3.3 million it received six years ago.
“We have class sets where students have a book they can use in class but they can't take it home," says spokesman Theo Helm. He says this forces teachers to become more creative, like making their own workbooks for classes. "We also use technology resources wherever we can.”
Text books range in cost from $10 for elementary classes to $100 for some high school AP courses. This academic year, school districts will get just under $15.00 per student for textbooks.
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