By Charles Sosnik
Many history enthusiasts will recall a concise observation by the 30th President of the United States, Calvin Coolidge: “The business of America is business.” Spoken during the exuberant Roaring ’20s, it captured an era when American industry prioritized production, trade, investment and profit. If Coolidge’s line defined the 1920s, then a similar maxim could define today’s schools: the business of every school is curriculum. In the 2020s, curriculum—especially digital curriculum—has become the central focus of education spending, strategy and innovation.
Last year, American schools invested $36.2 billion in educational technology, including $11 billion allocated specifically to digital curriculum. On average, individual districts spent about $10.1 million on EdTech, and the average school invested roughly $138,000. Printed resources—textbooks, workbooks and classroom materials—accounted for another $7.9 billion in purchases by institutions, schools and teachers. These totals do not include related staffing or professional development costs, which in many cases can substantially increase the overall expense.
Once you factor in fixed budget items—approximately 70 percent for salaries and benefits, 11 percent for purchased services (such as food, transportation and custodial services), 2 percent for tuition and related services, and nearly 10 percent for capital outlays and debt service—the remaining discretionary funds are largely consumed by curriculum and the technologies that deliver it. In short, after mandatory fixed costs are covered, curriculum decisions touch virtually every remaining dollar. That makes the curriculum market unusually open, competitive and consequential.
For decades, textbook purchasing was dominated by a small group of large publishers. Companies like Pearson, Houghton and McGraw once enjoyed long adoption cycles and near-automatic renewals lasting five to seven years. That market structure constrained innovation and quality, and learners suffered as a result. When the digital revolution accelerated around 2010, many large publishers moved to digitize existing materials and, in some cases, attempted to acquire emerging competitors to maintain control. Yet the surge of talented developers and educators producing superior, more engaging digital learning tools could not be fully absorbed or suppressed.
By 2020 the market shifted dramatically. Smaller, more innovative developers and platforms gained traction, and the old monopoly model began to break down. Today’s effective digital courseware combines professional editing, thoughtful instructional design, high-quality graphics and intuitive navigation to match the user experiences learners expect in other parts of their lives. When content is designed specifically for digital delivery, it fosters student agency, supports differentiated learning, and can lead to measurable growth in achievement.
Quality digital curriculum does more than digitize paper—it expands the boundaries of instruction. It supports immersive learning pathways, provides adaptive scaffolding, and empowers teachers with actionable insights. Professional-grade content helps ignite the learning process and offers schools a content-rich experience that is scalable and flexible across grades and contexts.
Curriculum decision-making carries significant influence within school systems. Even when technology is involved, the curriculum office frequently leads the conversation. Technology directors will often confirm that curriculum leaders—assistant superintendents or curriculum directors—play a decisive role, sometimes even guiding hardware choices to align with instructional goals. In many districts, these roles are converging into combined director positions that oversee both curriculum and technology, reflecting the deep integration of content and delivery platform.
Beyond traditional K–12 purchasing, a parallel consumer digital curriculum market has grown large—now estimated at $21 billion and expanding at roughly 17 percent annually. As institutional and consumer markets mature, their boundaries blur. Consumer-grade curriculum products are making their way into formal school settings, and a growing share of students—about 27 percent who are homeschooled or attend non-traditional programs—access school materials in new ways. The separation between school-purchased and consumer-purchased curriculum is eroding; what matters most is quality and effectiveness. The dominant rule in this open market is simple: the best technology and the best instructional design win.
In many respects today’s curriculum market resembles a Wild West—wide open, fast-moving and driven by innovation. It is a seller’s market where developers and publishers that prioritize authentic learning experiences, robust design and seamless technology integration can succeed. For educators and administrators, the imperative is to choose curriculum that aligns with student needs, teacher capacity and long-term instructional vision.
About the author
Charles Sosnik is an education journalist and editor, serving as Editor in Chief at The Learning Counsel. He is an education fellow at the EP3 Foundation and a regular contributor to prominent education platforms including The Learning Counsel, EdNews Daily, edCircuit and EdTech Digest.
This article was originally published by The Learning Counsel, a research institute and news media hub focused on providing context for the shift in education to digital curriculum.