<p>California's board of education would be required to weigh price when adopting new textbooks for the state's 6 million public school students under bills introduced in both houses of the state Legislature on Friday.</p>
<p>The bills' sponsors faulted the state board for its failure to control spiraling textbook prices. The proposed laws are a response to a Mercury News investigation in December that revealed prices of state-adopted textbooks have nearly tripled in some cases in the past decade -- in part because the state board, which has sole power in choosing texts, does not bother to negotiate for the best price.</p>