Bill would scale down textbook choices.

Get out the scales. There's a new textbook selection strategy weighing on the minds of administrators these days.

In an effort to curb back pain and other health problems that can result from students carrying heavy backpacks, Massachusetts has joined a handful of others states in considering limits on textbook weights. The limits under the bill, proposed by state Rep. Louis L. Kafka, would apply to all newly purchased or updated revisions of textbooks for students in grades 1-12.

Besides citing improper use of backpacks, publishers argue that today's books are heavy for a reason--they attempt to cover all of the ever-increasing content standards. www.aota.org/backpack/