The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-12-14
BOWLING DENIES
 TEXT BOOKSC COST
 MORE IN STATE
Cullman Man Advocates Partial Supply Of Free
 School Books
COMPARES PRICES
 IN OTHER STATES
Sales Of Texts In Ala bama This Year Total
 Over Million
lState Canital Rnreaul

MONTGOMERY, Ala, Dec. 13.- Some interesting data on the cost of text books for school children in Alabama has been furnished by H. c. Bowling, secretary of the Alabama Education as- sociation. He mentions methods em- ployed in some other states in furnishing textbooks, some having state printeries, while others pay for the textbooks from taxation.
 In his conclusions on the textbook problem, Secretary Bowling says that Alabama may come to state printing, though this. he stated, would be a doubtful step;" and that partial supply of free" books will almost certainly come. He stated that sales of textbooks in Alabama this year will probably amount to about $1 ,250,0OO.
 "The cost of our school textbooks has been the subject of considerable ad- verse comment recently in some of the newspapers of Alabama" Mir. Bowling declares. "A particularly unfavorable and much-quoted item was one com pairing the cost of books in Alabama with costs in other state, California and Kansas receiving special mention for furnishing texts at something like AZ or 49 cents per pupil as an annual cost. Any reply was impossible until the facts were in hand; and requests for full in- formation on the supplying of school books were sent to state headquarters in the states mentioned, and in other states of the union.
 Gives Facts"
 The facts about Alabama textbooks are about as follows: Last year, 1925 24, the book Repositories sold $636, 1000 worth of school texts to the 7O000O school children of the state. This year the sales will probably amount to about $1 ,250,000 because of the new five-year adoption and because a new junior high school grade has been added. For the next four years, the amount will prob ably recede to about $650,O00 per year, since many of the books serve the same pupil in two or more grades, and since many books new this year will pass on to other pupils second-handed. In other words, the cost per pupil was less than one dollar last year and will be about $150 this year. High school books are included in these figures, though most states do not adopt for the upper grades.
 California has state printery and has law that textbooks must be fur nished free to elementary school pupils. The legislature in 1923 made an ap- propriation of $576,9S3 to meet this law for the next two years. The state furnishes one and fraction new books to each pupil each year at an average cost of A cents. The books are the property of the state, the teachers are responsible for their care and for their return each year, and damages must be collected for their loss or destruction. The state supplies only one reader for each grade, though modern practice calls for three or more; the writing books sell for 3 cents-which indicates their qual- ity; and the books written by experts of national standing cost about the same as elsewhere since the state must pay royalties on the copyrighted mater ial.
 "The, state furnishes no textbooks for drawing or art education, none for nature study, none for physiology or health eduration, no dictionary, no text for industrial arts, none for agricul- ture, none for state history, none for civics, none for study of occupations all of which have gone into the course
 Continued On Page TwO.)