REMEMBER WHEN KIDS HAD LOCKERS?

Parents And Schools, Not The State, Should Deal With Heavy Backpack Issue

CALIFORNIA'S schoolchildren are carrying the weight of the world on their
shoulders. World history, that is. And math. Science and language arts,
too. No wonder those backpacks they carry are so darn heavy.

Concerned state lawmakers want to lighten that load before today's kids
become tomorrow's chiropractic patients. Their solution? Lighter-weight books.

Hold on a minute here. This sounds like a bad case of micromanagement.

Textbooks for elementary and middle schools must be approved by the state
Board of Education. To get the OK, books must conform to California's
ambitious curriculum requirements and meet nationwide durability standards.

AB 2532, a bill from Assembly member Rod Pacheco and Senator Jackie Speier,
would force the state to impose textbook weight limits, essentially judging
a book by its cover before considering its content.

Producing lighter-weight textbooks isn't as easy as it might sound. Either
publishers would divide texts into multiple volumes or districts would have
to buy paperbacks, which wouldn't last more than one year. Either way,
schools would pay more for less. It would be a shame if districts went for
the abridged versions rather than comprehensive texts because they met the
weight limit.

Heavy backpacks wouldn't even be an issue if schools hadn't eliminated
lockers in an effort to keep out drugs and weapons. Schools need to provide
places for kids to store their books. In addition, purchasing an extra set
of textbooks for home use would keep kids from having to lug them back and
forth each day. But that costs money, which isn't likely to come this year.
The state textbook budget is already inadequate to meet every district's need.

Without additional money to solve this problem, the state should
concentrate on choosing the best, not the lightest, books. It should let
parents and school districts tackle the heavy backpack issue.