INDIANAPOLIS — As students return from fall break around central Indiana, many families are raising concerns over covering the cost of textbooks for their kids.
"It is a huge chunk of change. It's one of the biggest single bills that we pay in a year, and I think that's true for a lot of middle-class families," said Rachel Burke, the president of the Indiana PTA.
Textbook rental fees have hit Hoosier families hard this school year.
For Burke, a mother of three in Indianapolis, she said she'll shell out hundreds — just this year — in fees for only one of her children. The cost is a burden for many families, especially those on fixed incomes.
"You have families who really truly cannot afford to pay it, and honestly shouldn't be paying it, that have had to pay and have gotten into situations where they owe districts money," Burke said.
The state does allow families in need to apply for textbook assistance, but often, Burke said, many families don't know about the fees until they're due, much less the waivers they'd need beforehand to get those fees wiped out. So, instead, many families often find themselves on the hook for hundreds.
A report from the Education Commission of the States found Indiana is one of just eight states where parents pay for textbook fees.
"Thousands of dollars to send your kids to a free public school is not something that makes a lot of sense, especially when you consider how many states cover it and the fact that Indiana doesn't," Burke said.
Ahead of this upcoming legislative session, Sen. Jean Breaux, D-District 34, is proposing legislation that would have the state pick up the tab for textbook fees instead of parents.
"This small investment would have great impact on families throughout the state," Breaux said.
A fiscal analysis found it would cost $68 million a year, according to Breaux, and with the state holding billions in the bank, she said Indiana can and should cover this.
"If we can remove that burden for $68 million, which is just a small fraction of our budget, and it will have immediate impact on families and really provide a service to families," Breaux said.
Breaux has tried unsuccessfully to move this legislation forward before. She hopes this is the year lawmakers take action. But to do that, she said parents need to speak up and speak out to make public education more affordable for families.
"I mean, it's public and free education. Our children should be able to take the classes that benefit them most and they shouldn't have to do a cost-benefit analysis about what classes they're taking at a free high school. That just doesn't make a whole lot of sense," Burke said.