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City school districts join forces to demand better textbooks

TUESDAY, JULY 03, 2012 16:07 PM



If a school district is located in a city with more than 250,000 people, there is a good chance it is a member of the Council of the Great City Schools, a national organization that exists to address the needs of students in urban public schools. Districts in Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle and Philadelphia all number among the organization’s members, according to the Council’s website.

Recently, Council members met with officials from the New York City Department of Education to discuss the need for better textbooks as they transition to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), The New York Times reported. At a panel discussion, Dennis M. Walcott, the chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, was joined by school superintendents from Chicago, Newark and Washington, D.C. to talk about what is being referred to as the Publishers’ Criteria.

To date, 31 school districts have signed a pledge that says they will reject any textbooks that are not aligned with the CCSS.

"We, alone, represent $100 million worth of business," said Walcott, as quoted by the news source. "I think through our collective efforts we want to make sure that the publishing industry understands the power of all of us working together."


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