Published at LXer:

As the basis of learning in classrooms across the country, textbooks are coming under increasing scrutiny in a political climate dictated by initiatives such as the No Child Left Behind and the American Competitiveness acts, increasing the demand for a positive return on textbook investments. [...] The mission of the Global Education Learning Community is to create an "open source" curriculum worldwide, providing free resources to students, teachers and administrators, according to the community's executive director Bobbi Kurshan.

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The abuse of textbooks is one problem--an attitude problem that is unrelated to the content of the books. Without becoming political or religious, let's just say that it is my opinion that the "teaching methods" being employed by our "educational system" have brought this problem on themselves.

The content of the textbooks is a different situation. I agree that content is often sub-par. Further the price we pay as taxpayers for the books in public schools or as university students for class-required texts is outrageous. (Anyone who has taken a college course in the last year should agree heartily with this one.) I am, however, reluctant to think that the web is a viable alternative currently. The reason is simple--it is not subject to peer review, and the content is not stable. As it just so happens, I am currently taking an online class (UNIX) from an accredited college. The class also requires purchasing a pricy, hard copy textbook. Although the textbook is not the greatest, in my opinion, it has nowhere near the number of typos and errors of the online content.