State Education Department
Office of General Services

Textbook Procurement Practices

Local school districts in New York State spend more than $200 million a year on textbooks. We examined the textbook procurement practices at selected districts outside New York City to determine whether the prices paid by the districts were the lowest available. We found that the prices were generally lower than the prices available from the other sources we examined. We also identified certain best practices that could be shared with other districts, and determined that better prices might be made available under certain circumstances if greater use were made of the statewide purchasing contracts administered by the Office of General Services.

For a complete copy of Report 98-S-78 click here.
For a copy of the 90-day response click here.
For a copy of the associated follow-up report click here.