Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

State Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, is right to question whether the state should continue investing hundreds of millions of dollars in textbooks that, with some exceptions, are usually outdated as soon as they reach the classroom. 

Branch is suggesting that some of the money designated for textbooks be used to purchase computers or other types of technology hardware so that more students can access lessons electronically. That makes sense. Students today must be prepared for a global community in which information changes very swiftly. 

"A textbook is a vehicle for content," said Branch, a member of the House Public Education Committee. "That vehicle is quickly becoming a horse and buggy." 

In geography, for instance, boundaries are constantly changing. Yugoslavia no longer exists as of several years ago. It has broken up into individual nations, including Serbia and Montenegro. The same is true in subjects of government, science, social studies and technology. Even history is being revised to reflect new research. Textbooks can't be changed every few years because of the expense. 

Computers would offer schools an easier and less expensive way of upgrading information on a regular basis. Online curriculum is commonplace, but students must have the hardware to access that information. Also, buying computers instead of textbooks would provide the added advantage of putting technology directly in the hands of all students, who would learn how to use computers as they are learning geography, science and other subjects. 

Certainly it would be costly to buy computers for all of Texas' 4.7 million public school students. Fewer than 7 percent of campuses statewide have met the target of providing a computer for every student and having all classrooms wired. 

But in this case, money is not the biggest hurdle. Texas has the $17.5 billion Permanent School Fund, an educational endowment that finances textbooks for all students. Almost all of the $1.5 billion in school fund proceeds in the 2010-11 budget will be needed to pay for textbooks. 

One obstacle the Legislature should address is an attorney general's opinion that essentially prohibits school fund proceeds from being used to buy computers. So the Legislature would have to pass or amend a law to allow that. To speed things up, state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, suggested moving money from textbooks to the state's technology fund. Also, the Legislature would have to address technical support issues that would arise so that teachers are not pulled from the classroom to fix computers. 

If those hurdles are moved out of the way, lawmakers still will face resistance from the State Board of Education, which oversees the Permanent School Fund and has fiercely fought attempts to steer textbook money to technology. 

Certainly, some subjects are more static, such as mathematics and reading for elementary students. Textbooks continue to be a good investment for those subjects. But it does not make sense to spend vast sums of money on textbooks that cannot keep pace with a changing world.