Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

Rep. Dan Branch House Public Education Committee member

A 19th-century concept of learning is holding back Texas from bringing school technology into the present, some legislators say.

Back in 1854, legislators guaranteed Texas schoolchildren access to free textbooks by establishing an educational endowment known as the Permanent School Fund .

And though textbooks are now in many situations giving way to digital media in the classroom, state spending on school technology, such as computers and Internet connectivity, has been dwarfed by the resources put toward textbooks.

State Rep. Dan Branch , R-Dallas, said he is concerned that the state is wasting its resources on "old vehicles" because some people believe a textbook is necessary for conveying knowledge to students.

"A textbook is a vehicle for content," Branch said. "That vehicle is quickly becoming a horse and buggy."

Since 1992, the state has allocated each year $30 per student for technology, which totals about $134 million in the current budget.

The bill for textbooks in the 2008-2009 budget was $496 million and will reach $913 million in the upcoming budget. Almost all of the $1.15 billion from the Permanent School Fund in the 2010-11 budget will be needed to pay for textbooks.

Branch, a member of the House Public Education Committee , would like to use some money from the textbook fund to pay for technology hardware so that more students can access lessons electronically.

But the Texas attorney general said in a 2006 opinion that textbook funds must be used for "conveying information" and cannot be used for purchasing hardware.

Branch argues that computer hardware is no different than the paper, cardboard and glue that make up a textbook, for which the school fund has always paid.

And the technology will improve the delivery of those lessons because students will see it as more relevant and dynamic, Branch said.

Although online curriculum is commonplace, access to needed technology hardware has been a limiting factor for schools to use that resource, said Anita Givens , acting associate commissioner for standards and programs at the Texas Education Agency.

Fewer than 7 percent of school campuses statewide have reached the target of providing a computer for every student and having all classrooms fully equipped and wired for the Internet, according to a state survey published this fall. On about 57 percent of the campuses, there are four students per computer, and three-quarters of the classrooms and library have Internet connectivity.

State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, offered a recommendation at a recent hearing that money be moved from textbooks to technology in order to speed access to online learning.

The State Board of Education, which has authority over the Permanent School Fund, has long objected to such a move, though the final decision belongs to the Legislature.

Chairman Don McLeroy said the board does not want to see the school fund money wasted on technology that could quickly become obsolete.

But McLeroy is warming to the idea as technology prices come down and more research shows of the value of technology in learning, he said.