[yoe]

A great part of the $35 billion goes for 'overhead', i.e. more jobs in the front office of schools. Precious little trickles down to the students needs be it supplies or just good teachers. Any school that accepts federal funding must also go by federal guide lines - of what and how to teach. Good textbooks are hard to find, ones that tell the truth in simple language without cartoons poorly drawn and spoken in 'jive' language. Deliberate dummied down and then some.

[RobbyS]

The "late" Bill Bennett (he is now throughas a moralist, so he might as well be dead) once described school administration as"the blob" because as secretary of education he saw how it absorbed up most federal monies. Conglomerates have now bought up the big textbook companies and make a ton of money each year because California and Texas adopt state-wide editions. So the choices availle to other schools is limited.

Let us not forget the scam of requiring new versions of textbooks every five years when older versions will do. Or buying expensive hardbacks when paperbacks will do.(how often do we need new calculus texts or how badly do the students in calculus classes mistreat books. (For God's sakes why NOT mark them up!and if they DO trash them, make the sob's PAY for new ones.)