The purpose of the study was to analyze the impact of the financial assistance for textbooks and related instructional materials portion of Public Law No. 390 (1987) on textbook rental programs in public school corporations across Indiana. The results of the analysis were compared with data from the financial assistance program prescribed in Public Law No. 209 (1979). The Indiana Department of Education's Textbook Cost Survey was designed to collect financial information about textbook rental programs for the school years 1984-85 through 1986-87 when P.L. 209 was in effect. A questionnaire, modeled after the Textbook Cost Survey, was developed to collect similar information for the school year 1987-88 when P.L. 390 came into effect. This survey was sent to the 209 school corporation that had responded to the Department of Education survey. Percentage distributions and mean per pupil financial data were ascertained for the data obtained from the two instruments. Based on information gained from the study, a comparative analysis of the impact of Public Laws 209 and 390 on Indiana textbook rental programs was made.Data collected supported the following conclusions:1. Because Indiana law requires the adoption of some new textbooks each year, mean per pupil textbook rental billings will continue to increase annually, as mean per pupil textbook rental billings did from 1984-85 through 1987-88, the four years included in this study.2. The overall percentage of mean per pupil textbook rental billings collected each year from parent/guardians or emancipated minors will continue to decrease as did the overall percentage of mean per pupil textbook rental billings collected during the four years (1984-1988) included in the study.3.Because of the inclusion of standardized financial eligibility criteria and allocation of sufficient funding for total reimbursement of eligible financial assistance billings from individual school corporations, the financial assistance portion of P.L. 390 is an improvement over P.L. 209.4. Because of the specific delineation of textbook rental fee components eligible for financial assistance reimbursement under P.L. 390, implementation of the law brought about changes in the components some school corporations included in textbook rental billings.5. In an attempt to make up some of the difference between actual textbook rental billings and eligible financial assistance billings sent to the Department of Education for reimbursement, an increasing percentage of school corporations switched from annual recovery of 20 percent of textbook costs to annual recovery of 25 percent of costs after implementation of P.L. 390.6. School corporations who ask parent/guardians or emancipated minors approved for financial assistance to pay the difference between the actual amount of textbook rental billings and the amount of financial assistance reimbursement received from the state face a difficult public relations situation.7. The data from 1987-88 appear to indicate P.L. 390 has had a positive impact on the mean per pupil amounts of unpaid textbook rental billings pursued for collection.8. The mean per pupil costs for pursuing collection of unpaid textbook rental billings through small claims court or other collection methods are not truly representative of actual costs because personnel costs were frequently omitted.9. Textbook rental funds which are, theoretically, designed to be self-supporting cannot continuously absorb the loss of income resulting from exclusion of some components normally included in textbook rental billings from financial assistance reimbursement, exclusion of students qualifying after November 1 each year from financial assistance reimbursement, and reimbursement at a different percentage of costs than the percentage normally charged in textbook rental billings.10. After implementation of the financial assistance portion of P.L. 390, those school corporations who indicated expenditures for components normally included in textbook rental billings but excluded from financial assistance reimbursement would be paid from the general fund, or who indicated the general fund would be used to reimburse textbook rental funds for the losses of income incurred through implementation of P.L. 390 have provided only a temporary solution.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/181265 |
| Date | 03 June 2011 |
| Creators | Stuelpe, Bonnie J. |
| Contributors | Wagner, Ivan D. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | xiv, 279 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
| Coverage | n-us-in |
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