Gov. Ron DeSantis came to Osceola County on Tuesday, to let people know its school district’s been overcharged for textbooks, and he and state leadership won’t stand for it any longer.
DeSantis, with Attorney General James Uthmeier, Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas and Osceola school superintendent Dr. Mark Shanoff, while also taking a stance that those textbooks contain “education, not indoctrination,” noted that the state has filed a lawsuit in Leon County circuit court against McGraw Hill and Savvas Learning.
“Today we’re holding them accountable,” DeSantis said from the second-year Voyager K-8 school in Sunbridge. “Florida law was not being followed. The civil penalty could be $37.5 to $60 million between the two publishers.”
The lawsuit, filed through a whistleblower complaint, accuses McGraw Hill and Savvas Learning Company of “systematically overcharging” school districts for instructional materials, and that under state law when publishers apply to be placed on Florida’s list of textbook providers, they must match the best prices offered anywhere else in the nation.
DeSantis specifically said that, between the publishers, the School District of Osceola County was overcharged $279,000 (the News-Gazette is working to confirm this figure), and that a finding in favor of the state would return at least some money to overcharged school districts like Osceola.
“We have sued them and we will hold them accountable,” Uthmeier said. “Florida was the first state to pass broad parental rights, and we are going to enforce them. We will make sure all companies are doing the best thing for Florida students.”
Kamoutsas was pointed in noting these two providers were offering discounts in other districts, demanding text publishers treat every school district equally.
“We expect every publisher who wants to do business here be held to that standard. Some publishers are overcharging certain districts.”
Shanoff spoke for the Osceola schools, noting that the district is quickly approaching 80,000 students, “And that’s not by accident.”
“We value parental choice and educational freedom, and recognize parents know what’s best for their children,” he said Tuesday. “We commit to the optimism of the first day of school every day, and that takes textbooks aligned to standards.
“Why are companies overcharging districts like mine? We’re focused on delivering standards that don’t violate laws and standards, teaching knowledge and skills that make them better students and citizens.”
Shanoff called the textbook providers, “Billion-dollar companies making profit off districts like mine who have a responsibility to the county taxpayers.”
“We have an agreedupon price to pay, and clear documentation that some publishers have failed to deliver on that agreement. Thank you to our governor and leaders for saying, ‘Not on our watch.’”
