In a message of , Tom Cotton (1:3819/128) writes:
 TC>My distrust of the National curriculum idea is simply the opportunity 
 TC>for
 TC>corruption and the limiting of variety.  At 45 I remember a scam that 
 TC>was
 TC>run when I was in high school.  Before desegregation we were required 
 TC>to
 TC>buy our own text books.  The text were changed every two years or so
 TC>even though the subject areas had not.  That made used books useless
 TC>after a couple years.  The end result was that after several 
 TC>inditements
 TC>it was discovered certain parties were getting kickbacks from the book
 TC>publishers through local book stores to change the books.  
 TC>Desegregation
 TC>limited the practice to some extent since the district and not the
 TC>students had to purchase the books.
 TC>
Of course publishers do that too.  They change editions every few years  
whether the subject has changed much or not.  In practice, most introductory  
texts are sold by students after the course, so after a few years the market  
is saturated with used books and few new ones are sold.
In the k12 text book market, unlike the college market, publishers are under  
pressure to not change editions for at least 5 years.  Districts want to be  
able to buy some texts one year and more the next without having to own two  
different editions.
 
--- msged 1.97S ZTC
---------------