AIKEN - With millions of dollars at stake, some say the textbook industry has gone too far with its attempts to write books that cater to the masses.

Critics say publishers are pumping out "bland" books that can be difficult to understand.

And that's tough for some to swallow with today's prices. One calculus book in South Carolina sells for $109.

The Aiken County school district is currently selecting textbooks for next year. And it needs to be cautious, warned Harriet Tyson, the author of Conspiracy of Good Intentions: America's Textbook Fiasco.

She said publishers often compress information in textbooks to such a degree that it baffles students and parents.

"The kid comes to the parent and says, 'I don't understand this page,' and the parent reads it and says, 'I don't understand it either,'" Ms. Tyson said.

South Carolina is one of three states that relies on its Department of Education to create a list of approved textbooks.

Administrators and teachers then review textbooks on the list, recommending their selections to the district school board.

The state Department of Education's textbook tab for the current academic year, using funds provided by the General Assembly, was $1,475,925 for Aiken County and about $49 million statewide, according to Jim White, the manager of the state textbook program.

Aiken County's share represents a little more than 1 percent of its annual instructional spending in the district.

Pat Kirk, a substitute teacher for Aiken schools, said she has read numerous textbooks being used in the district.

"I have kind of a feel for the textbooks here," she said "I think they're just fine."

Lisa Soronen, a staff attorney for the National School Boards Association, said textbooks are created by publishers seeking to satisfy everyone, with a view toward the best sales figures.

"They're writing these kind of bland books and schools have to pick those boring textbooks because they're the only things out there," Ms. Soronen said.

One major publisher defended its textbook content.

Wendy Spiegel, the head of communications for Pearson Education, which represents Pearson Prentice Hall and Pearson Scott Foresman, the world's leading elementary education publisher, took offense at the "bland" label.

"If you had looked at any of our books, you wouldn't have said 'bland,'" Ms. Spiegel said. "I'm sure if you have an opportunity to visit a classroom and see the materials they're working on, you'd have a different point of view."

Aiken County administrators and teachers said they have confidence in the district's textbook adoption process.

Sherry Wilson, the assistant principal at Jefferson Elementary School, said she attended a meeting last week where publishers presented samples of their social studies textbooks.

"We are very much involved in the process," she said.

School officials said publishers help make the selection process easier by providing information about their books.

Robyn Rogers, a third-grade social studies teacher at Jefferson Elementary, participated in the adoption process for health and safety textbooks last year. The process included the comparison between textbook content and areas covered in the Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test.

Reach Nathan Dickinson at (803) 648-1395 ext. 109 or nathan.dickinson@augustachronicle.com.