Letters: Textbooks should top SC school funding list

South Carolina has not fully funded public school textbooks since 2008. When most property taxes were replaced with the sales tax for school funding, the unanticipated consequence was insufficient funds for education in general and textbooks in particular. This shortfall has resulted in students using texts that are past worn out, outdated materials and in some cases no materials at all.

With all the focus on school equality, fully funding state-supplied textbooks would be a great place to start.

The current excitement over technology in education is in no way a substitute for textbooks; the cost for textbooks is the same whether they are printed or digital.

The Legislature should fully fund textbooks this budget year and every year as this is very important to all our students.

This story was originally published January 26, 2016 at 1:52 PM.