Students Using Worn and Outdated Textbooks

January 2, 2008 -- Years of budget cuts have left students in St. Cloud, Minnesota schools without enough textbooks to go around, reports the Associated Press. In many cases, students are sharing worn and out-dated textbooks. Often there are not enough books for students to take one home to study for exams or to complete homework. According to a St. Cloud Times review of the district's textbook inventory, textbooks from math, science, social studies and English are mostly no more than 10 to 12 years old, though texts outside of the "core" courses are often much older. The text for AP History, for example, is from 1994. Minnesota is not the only state having problems keeping up with textbook needs. Similar resource shortages have also made headlines in New York, California, Illinois and Texas.