Textbook shortage points to underlying failure

New Mexico students are apparently the victims of a textbook shortage, link. The textbook shortage is blamed on recent budget cutting.

It would seem to be a perfect time to re-examine our commitment to textbooks in the first place. Textbooks are among the least effective and most expensive of teaching tools. In contrast, e-information gathering and sharing is among the cheapest and most effective.

The question is not; how can we afford to buy more textbooks? It is, why would we want to?

For less money than we spend on a textbook, we can connect students to the database they will use for the rest of their lives.

If the ultimate goal of education is to create lifelong, independent learners; why is that not our immediate priority?

Why spend another penny on tools that are obsolete before they are even printed?