Florida is targeting two popular textbook publishers for what it claims is "systematically overcharging" school districts for instructional materials.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that the state has filed a lawsuit against McGraw-Hill LLC and Savvas Learning Company LLC.
"Our lawsuit exposes a textbook case of corporate greed — companies charging Florida schools more than the law allows, pocketing the difference, and sticking taxpayers with the bill," Uthmeier said. "Florida will not be a playground for deceitful profiteers who think they can cheat our students and teachers. We will make sure they pay back every dime and face the full consequences under the law."
WATCH BELOW: Gov. DeSantis outlines claims against 2 book publishers
Filed in the Second Judicial Circuit Court, the state is asserting that the publishers failed to comply with Florida's statutory pricing requirements for instructional materials adopted for statewide use.
"Under Florida law, publishers must give every Florida school district the best price offered anywhere in the nation, automatically extend any price cuts made available elsewhere, and provide free materials to Florida schools whenever they are provided free to others," according to a statement from the attorney general.
The state claims that McGraw-Hill and Savvas "knowingly charged" certain Florida school districts more than the lowest price they offered to other districts, and withheld cost reductions required by statute.
WATCH BELOW: AG James Uthmeier calls situation 'textbook case of corporate greed'
The lawsuit contends that these violations resulted in substantial overpayments from Florida's school districts and, ultimately, from Florida taxpayers.
"Savvas Learning Company has policies and procedures in place to comply with applicable statutes governing the procurement of instructional materials," said Richard Weir, Savvas Learning Director of Corporate Communications and Public Relations, in a statement. "We have always been, and continue to be, committed to complying with all laws and regulations pertaining to the sale of our instructional materials. We never charged Florida school districts more than the state contract price.
DeSantis held a news conference Tuesday morning at Voyager K-8 school in St. Cloud, Florida, to announce the lawsuit.
"The complaint by the attorney general states that there have been at least 5,900 instances of overcharges by these textbook publishers," DeSantis said. "One example, right here in the Osceola County School District, (there was) an overcharge of more than $279,000."
The governor also cited one book sold at a discount to the Miami-Dade County Public Schools but sold at higher prices in nine other Florida school districts, with overcharges totaling more than $250,000.
"The civil penalties for this alleged textbook fraud could amount to between $37.5 million and $60.5 million between the two publishers," DeSantis said.
Uthmeier also spoke at the news conference and called the situation a "textbook case of corporate greed" with companies attempting to "make a profit at the expense of students and our taxpayers."
"We believe the AG's claims lack factual and legal merit on multiple grounds. We plan to defend our position vigorously," said Tyler Reed, McGraw Hill Senior Director of Communications, in a statement.
The complaint seeks treble damages and civil penalties against the publishers.
This story was originally published by Scott Sutton with the Scripps News Group in West Palm Beach.
