AUSTIN — Despite their protests, textbook publishers were ordered by the State Board of Education on Thursday to put more phonics into new reading books - and to do it quickly.

The late changes in first-grade readers were ordered one day before the board is slated to adopt $235 million in new books that will be in Texas schools next year. The first-grade books make up nearly $34 million of the total.

If the changes are not made, publishers won't get their books on the state's approved list, and many school districts may not purchase them.

In phonics, students are taught letters and their sounds to help develop reading skills.

"This is crucial to a child learning to read in the first grade," said board member Geraldine Miller of Dallas, who led the move to require more phonics with solid backing from social conservatives.

"We have an opportunity to fix this and make these books better," she said.

Board members voted 11-3 to approve the revisions against the advice of state Education Commissioner James Nelson.

Joe Bill Watkins of the Association of American Publishers said publishers are unhappy about changing the guidelines for the books at the 11th hour.

"We don't think this is right. We don't think it is fair," Mr. Watkins said, noting that the revisions will cost publishers several million dollars. Nearly $100 million already has been spent developing elementary reading books.

"There are some serious questions about whether you have the power to do this," he said. Later, he declined to comment on whether publishers might sue the state.

The five publishers have until January to revise their books so that 80 percent of the words and passages in each text could be read using phonics.

Several months ago, publishers were told by the Texas Education Agency that the books had to be at least 51 percent phonics-based - a standard that was met by all five. None currently meets the 80 percent standard.

Mrs. Miller argued that 51 percent is way too few phonics words and does not reflect the curriculum standards adopted by the board two years ago. Those standards said "most" language in the reading books should be phonics-based.

Opposition

Board member Will Davis, who voted against Mrs. Miller's proposal, argued that the board action is probably illegal and represented a violation of state contracts with publishers.

"This is a very capricious, arbitrary, unfair, illegal proposal," said Mr. Davis, an Austin lawyer.

Mr. Nelson said he was concerned about setting a bad precedent in which publishers could be forced to change their books late in the textbook adoption process.

"There is a high level of unfairness to this," he said. He suggested approving the books and then sending out an advisory to school districts urging them to choose books with a high level of phonics.

But that suggestion was quickly voted down by the board.

The use of phonics to teach reading has been heavily touted by Gov. George W. Bush, who is seeking the Republican nomination for president. It also has been a battle cry for social conservatives across the nation.

All six social conservatives on the board - all Republicans - voted for Mrs. Miller's motion, including Richard Neill of Fort Worth.

"I am willing to fall on the sword for this issue," he said, noting that he ran for the board to advocate wider use of phonics.

While all board members said they support the use of phonics to teach reading, they differed on whether there should be such a high standard for phonics-based language.

Two approaches

Phonics emphasizes the teaching of letters and their sounds, while the other major approach to teaching reading skills - whole language - stresses the use of pictures and other clues to understand the meaning of words in stories.

Many reading experts say a combination of the two is the best approach.

Mr. Watkins said the revisions will cost each publisher from $1 million to $5 million, with no promise from the board that added costs will be reimbursed.

Several board members said they favor the state picking up the increased costs, but Mr. Nelson said there aren't any extra state funds. The only way to free up money would be to cancel purchases of other books, officials said.

Mr. Davis, joined by Rene Nunez of El Paso and Grace Shore of Longview, voted against the changes.

A final vote on the textbook purchase will be Friday.

Texas, one of the largest textbook purchasers in the nation, is a critical stop for publishers, who sell the books adopted in Texas to dozens of other states.

Although the state board no longer has the authority to reject textbooks outright, it does classify them as either "conforming" or "nonconforming" with state curriculum standards.

Books that are found short on phonics could still be purchased from the nonconforming list, but publishers said school districts in Texas rarely choose books from that list.

Ironically, first-grade readers from six other publishers that have already been placed on the nonconforming list had much higher levels of phonics than the five books on the conforming list. But they failed to meet other curriculum standards.

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