Laws for Publishing Companies
Dear President Obama,
I see a large portion of district money going towards textbooks as part of curriculum adoption. In September 2006, an advisory committee to the U.S. Education Department issued a lengthy analysis of the economic forces that lead to high textbook prices. They included inelastic demand (school districts have to buy the books); an oligopolistic supply market in which only a handful of publishers (including Thomson, McGraw-Hill, Prentice Hall, and Houghton-Mifflin) dominate; high production costs that create barriers to entry by possible competitors with the Big Four.
I am wondering if you could pass a law that would stop the publishing companies from raising their textbook prices (if school districts purchase it as their core curriculum)? I am also wondering if you could pass a law that would require publishing companies to provide professional development for school districts who purchase materials to be used as core curriculum?
Thank you for hearing my voice.
This post was submitted by Amy Sinness.
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