I was reading just now on the Education Week “Curriculum Matters” blog about how the cuts in the federal “Reading First” program and presumably the general bad economy are leading to reduced state spending for schools (including textbooks) had led to a 5.4 percent decline in revenues for the McGraw-Hill School division. The “Reading First” program, which is being cut back because studies are showing it has not helping kids with their reading comprehension, was one of the centerpieces of the Rod Paige/George W. Bush education approach, spending over $1 billion yearly to pay for instructional materials and teacher training. Despite the decline, the McGraw-Hill School division still had yearly sales of $1.4 billion. Likewise, other school book publishers are suffering. Continue reading →