House would make schools pay for textbooks

CLARIFICATION: Libby Cierzniak points out that school districts would be able to use their property tax-funded debt service funds to pay for textbooks if they choose.

Indiana House Republicans boast that their budget proposal “eliminates fees for textbooks and curricular materials.” It’s true, but that doesn’t mean the state will pay for them.

Instead, it will kick that responsibility to local school districts and charter schools, at an apparent cost of about $160 million per year. The House GOP budget bill prohibits schools from charging fees for textbooks and instructional materials, but it appropriates zero state dollars to pay the cost.

The House approved the budget legislation Friday on a 66-29, party-line vote, sending it to the Senate, which will make changes. The two chambers will compromise on a final budget in April.

Indiana is currently one of only seven states where students and their families have to pay for required textbooks. Democrats have tried for decades to change that, but Republicans have refused. This year, however, Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, called for ending what he called a “hidden tax.” In his 2023 State of the State address, he cited a parent who was billed $630 for textbooks for her four children.

“Our state constitution promises a tuition-free education,” he said. “Let’s cover the full cost of curriculum fees … so that – starting next school year – no parent receives such a dreadful bill again.”

Holcomb’s budget proposal included $160 million a year to reimburse public schools for the cost of textbooks and instructional materials. But House Republicans deleted the funding, apparently leaving it to schools to pay the cost from their state funding or local property taxes.

Until now, schools have provided free textbooks for students who qualify by family income for free or reduced-price school meals, and the state reimbursed the cost, to a tune of $40 million per year. Now all students in public schools will get free textbooks, but there will be no state reimbursement.

It’s different, however, for private schools. They could still charge for textbooks and instructional materials. The budget bill says the state may reimburse low-income families in private schools for textbook expenses, although there doesn’t seem to be an appropriation for that purpose.

For parents of public and charter school students, it may not matter who’s paying; the important thing is that textbooks would be free. But it matters for schools. The money they would use for textbooks is money they can’t use for other expenses, including programs and staff.

It’s a reminder that, when House Republicans brag about how much they’re increasing funding for K-12 schools, they’re not telling the whole story. More than a third of the funding increase next year will go to expanding Indiana’s voucher program to pay private school tuition for affluent families. And it looks like about one-fifth could go to paying for textbooks. What’s left won’t be close to inflation.