Beck v. Board of Ed. of Harlem Consol. School Dist. No. 122

• Decision Date: 18 March 1976
• Docket Number: No. 47567,47567
• Citation: 344 N.E.2d 440,63 Ill.2d 10
• Parties: William C. BECK, Appellant, v. The BOARD OF EDUCATION OF HARLEM CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 122, Appellee.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

Page 440

344 N.E.2d 440

63 Ill.2d 10

William C. BECK, Appellant, v. The BOARD OF EDUCATION OF HARLEM CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 122, Appellee.

No. 47567.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

March 18, 1976.

Balsley, Roper & Swanson, Loves Park (William L. Basley, Loves Park, of counsel), for appellant.

Williams, McCarthy, Kinley, Rudy & Picha, Rockford (John R. Kinley and Russell D. Anderson, Rockford, of counsel), for appellee.

GOLDENHERSH, Justice.

Defendant, Board of Education of Harlem Consolidated School District No. 122, appealed from the declaratory judgment and decree of the circuit court of Winnebago County holding that defendant was without authority to collect fees charged for school supplies and materials furnished to the children of plaintiff, William C. Beck, and enjoining the collection of such fees. The appellate court reversed (27 Ill.App.3d 4, 325 N.E.2d 640), and we allowed plaintiff's petition for leave to appeal.

In his complaint for declaratory judgment and other relief plaintiff alleged that he was the father of four children attending schools conducted by defendant; that defendant had adopted a resolution requiring students to pay certain fees for services and materials; that in 1938 the voters of the district had by referendum adopted the provisions of the free text book act (see Ill.Rev.Stat.1937, ch. 122, pars. 515 through 520 (now ch. 122, pars. 28--14 through 28--19)), and that the defendant was without authority to charge the pupils the flat rate mandatory fee imposed for workbooks, duplicating paper and masters, magazine subscriptions, dictionaries, paperback books, maps and atlases. Plaintiff also alleged that the imposition of the fees was proscribed by section 1 of article X of the Illinois Constitution, which, Inter alia, provides that 'Education in public schools through the secondary level shall be free.'

The case was submitted to the circuit court on a stipulation of facts and several exhibits. The materials and supplies for which the fees were charged are described in the appellate court opinion (27 Ill.App.3d 4, 6--7, 325 N.E.2d 640), and the description need not be repeated here.

Section 28--15 of the Illinois School Code (Ill.Rev.Stat.1973, ch. 122, par. 28--15) in pertinent part provided:

'Sec. 28--15. Textbooks provided and loaned to pupils--Sale to pupils. The governing body of every school district having voted in favor of furnishing free textbooks * * * shall provide, at the expense of the district, textbooks for use in the public schools and loan them free to the pupils. Textbooks so furnished shall remain the property of the school district. The governing body shall also provide for the sale of such textbooks at cost to pupils of the schools in the district wishing to purchase them for their own use.'

Plaintiff contends that workbooks, duplicating papers, magazine subscriptions, dictionaries, paperback books, maps and atlases were textbooks within the meaning of the statute. He argues that the circuit court correctly held that the printed materials are 'useful and beneficial study tools in the educational process' and when 'chosen by defendant to be used for that purpose they become textbooks.'

Defendant contends that the appellate court correctly held 'that in the absence of a contrary statutory definition, a word used in a statute is to have its popularly understood meaning (Bowman v. Armour & Co., (1959), 17 Ill.2d 43, 52, 160 N.E.2d 753), or commonly accepted dictionary interpretation. (Husser v. Fouth (1944), 386 Ill. 188, 194, 53 N.E.2d 949). Webster's New International Dictionary (2d ed. 1934) defines a textbook as 'a book containing a presentation of the principles of a subject, intended to be studied by the pupil and used as a basis of instruction by the teacher.' The word is popularly understood to describe a Book, rather than anything of lesser substantiality or permanence, which Expounds the principles of a field of knowledge, rather than merely presenting exercises or questions, and which is used as the Basis of a course of study, and not as a general reference work or a reference work on a subsidiary topic.

'A map, we believe is not ordinarily considered to be a textbook, nor is a collection of maps in an atlas, nor is a dictionary, nor is a 'Weekly Reader' magazine, nor is a sheet of paper or a collection of loose sheets of paper. The workbooks containing problems and exercises and the pamphlet on selected subjects are also ordinarily considered, we believe, to be not textbooks but just supplementary materials, or teaching aids; it was stipulated that they were used to supplement books which were the standard work or basis for instruction in the particular area. We cannot...