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The Boston Globe

Metro

Boston to alter how it buys schoolbooks

Superintendent aims for lower-price strategy

Better coordination should ensure that Boston Public Schools, which often pays more than average consumers, obtains the best value when buying books.

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Comments

Isn't it time that Boston and MA join the rest of the technically adept country and stop buying paper books? It's less expensive to get open-source educational materials and provide tablets/ipads.

It's beyond funny that they crow about "e procurement" processes like they just developed a best practice; welcome to the late 20th century BPS. Where have your administrative processes been?? I can only imagine how hard it is to educate kids in an urban environment, but that challenge can't be an excuse for lame administrative processes. The BPS pays their COOs' big salaries and get a poor return. This local tax payer continues to plead for someone to look out for our best interests.

To anyone that cares: BPS overspends on everything. Pearson publishing makes a bundle. Consultants love Boston, they get paid to educate all us dumb teachers - even though they wouldn't last a minute in the classroom. And let's not forget school supplies. Someone please look into how much money is spent on each item - I know the answer and it's highway robbery. The average school supply costs more for BPS and taxpayers per item than it would for the average person to buy individually. Aren't you suppose to get a deal when you buy in bulk - never mind spending millions every year. Oh, please, let's investigate. We should be saving as much as we can to help our kids, not to fatten corporate pockets. BPS should expand it's vendor list in order to procure more tools for success. Heck, maybe we could even hire more teachers.