SOUTH BEND — For many students across Indiana, it's back to school week. In addition to all the school clothes and supplies, parents in Indiana also have to pay textbook rental fees. Indiana is just one of just three states charging these public school textbook fees.

You might wonder how public schools can get away with that when the Constitution guarantees all students the right to a free public education. But there is a loophole that requires school districts to charge money for the books.

It's an expensive time of year.

"We spent $42 at one place and now we're coming here to get the rest of the stuff," said Diane Resnik.

Another local parent, Julie Turner, said her kids' back-to-school tab is getting bigger every day.

"Jeffery needs a new backpack, he needs some shoes and other supplies," Turner said.

On top of all that, Indiana families still have to pay textbook rental fees before sending their kids back into the classroom.

Julie Turner estimates she spends more than $100 on textbooks for each of her three kids.

But how can public schools get away with that fee?

Article 8 of the Indiana Constitution says the General Assembly must provide "...a general and uniform system of Common Schools wherein tuition shall be without charge, and equally open to all."

That means that same thing as "a free public education." Parents do not have to pay tuition.

But another section of the constitution designated solely to textbooks reads, "...Each governing body shall purchase from a contracting publisher and shall rent these textbooks to each student enrolled in a public school..."

South Bend National Education Association President and Washington High School math teacher Carolyn Peterson said she doesn't think it's fair.

"Other states have defined free education differently than Indiana," she explained. "From an educator's perspective, I wish we would join the rest of the states and not have this."

And parents say it's just one more fee that makes going back to school a big hit to their pocketbooks and the right to a free public education.

"It's a big hit this time of year," said Julie Turner.

"It's not entirely free," Diane Resnik told WSBT.

Students can also qualify for free textbooks and free lunches if their parents can't afford the fees. That involves filling out some paperwork through the school district.

But the South Bend National Education Association President Carolyn Peterson told WSBT the state only reimburses school districts about 70 percent of those fees to some schools — which can lead to some budget shortfalls for school corporations.

The part of the Constitution that says school districts in Indiana must charge textbook fees is regulated by the Indiana General Assembly.

But some school districts have challenged that law. The Evansville-Vandenburg Community Schools challenged the fees process a few years ago. In March 2006 the state legislature defined the law more clearly saying it will NOT fund textbooks.