Chris, our year for new textbooks came up 3 years ago. The curriculum director had us look over dozens of texts and asked us to make a decision. I told her I would need 170 textbooks at $150 each. The price is the same as a computer cart of 25 imacs. We got the imacs, and because we use the textbooks so little, they are still in good enough shape to last through the next cycle.
We use American Republic by Glencoe...ok. I'm getting away from it but use it as a reference. Has anyone considered or used Howard Zinn's A Young People's History of the United States?