California Faces a Curriculum Crisis

Major Changes to State Policies Prompted by Budget Troubles

School administrators in California are getting greater flexibility in how they spend more than $300 million intended for instructional materials, along with encouragement to use some free digital textbooks for high school courses, as a result of cost-cutting measures brought on by the state’s budget crisis.

But extensive changes to the state’s curriculum policies have raised concerns among many educators that they will not have the guidance or resources they need to choose the best textbooks and teaching strategies for their students.

Beyond those concerns, the changes have also left publishers reeling as they brace for the potential of huge losses of sales in what is their biggest and most influential market. Coupled with budget cuts in other states, the economic climate could jeopardize development of new print and digital products...

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