Schools consider  e-textbooks

Done right, e-textbooks would be one way to help deal with a perennial problem in the public schools of Washington, D.C.–late textbooks. Same concept could apply to other bureaucracy-ridden school systems.

The union, which represents about 4,500 teachers, in October documented more than 100 complaints from teachers asserting that they had not received books and other materials. The complaints came from both general and special education teachers from schools across the city, and materials were said to be missing not only for English and math classes but also for subjects such as geography, world history and Spanish.

Union officials said it was unclear how many of those teachers had since received books. At a meeting Monday, the union surveyed about 70 teachers, each representing a different school, and 27 said they still were without some books.

With e-books, it would be much, much easier to audit whether and when they had been purchased. Furthermore, digital books could more easily keep up with changes in curriculum and be customized for students with different needs.