Closing the Gap in California Between K-12 Budget Cuts and Textbooks

WOODRIDGE, Ill., Sept. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- As states across the country face major shortfalls in their budgets, many school districts are dealing with the biggest cutbacks that they've seen in decades.  

Textbooks represent one of the largest expenses and most critical needs in school budgets. One solution to reducing costs while providing students with the books they need is to purchase pre-owned textbooks—a service offered by Follett Educational Services (FES). In the last two years alone, over 38,000 schools nationwide have chosen pre-owned textbooks from FES —saving up to 75 percent off publisher net prices and typically reducing the average district's textbook costs by more than 30 percent.

Pre-owned textbooks have proven to be a life-saver for struggling districts. "Districts can buy two or three pre-owned textbooks for the same price as one new textbook," says Joe Miller, senior vice president of FES. "The savings really add up—for example, in the last two years over 4,000 California schools have saved a combined $22 million off publisher prices by purchasing from FES. These are the identical publishers, ISBNs and copyright years they're currently using."  

FES has several processes in place to ensure only the highest quality books make it into students' hands. Miller added: "Every pre-owned textbook we sell is quality checked—so despite the lower cost, schools can be confident of getting both the content and quality they need."  

FES, a Follett Corporation Company, houses the largest K-12 pre-owned textbook inventory in the U.S., stocking millions of textbooks from all major publishers across every K-12 subject. FES supports schools with everything from fill-in and replacement books to entire classroom sets— helping to ensure that students have the textbooks they need.

FES also pays top dollar to schools and districts for their surplus textbooks, teachers' editions and unused workbooks. This textbook "buyback" program turns excess or obsolete textbooks into cash or credit, generating additional funds that schools can use to offset budget cuts, support vital programs, or purchase new materials.

About Follett Corporation

Follett Corporation is a $2.7 billion, privately-held company that provides products, services and solutions to the educational marketplace. Follett Corporation was founded in 1873, and today is headquartered in River Grove, Illinois.

SOURCE Follett Corporation

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