Texas math books fraught with errors

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Reviewers have found 109,263 errors in sample copies of math textbooks to be used next fall in Texas.

One second-grade math book, for example, has 4 plus 7 equaling 10, the San Antonio Express-News reported Friday.

Many of the errors, spread out over 164 textbooks and online materials, are blamed on faulty translation from English to Spanish. Some of the student editions also included answers to end-of-chapter quizzes, which were counted as errors.

The math books are expected to be error-free by the time classes begin. For every error that is not caught, the State Board of Education fines publishers $5,000, the newspaper said.

The Boston-based publishing giant Houghton Mifflin Co. is responsible for 79 percent of the errors found in both student and teacher materials.

"The last time we had any errors that were identified after they hit the classrooms was in 2005. We found one," said Anita Givens, senior director of educational technology at the Texas Education Agency.