DENVER -- For the 14th year in a row, the Consul General of Mexico has donated 500 boxes of books to Colorado schools.

It’s part of a bi-national program to help students on both sides of the border.

“We continue to embrace this gift,” said Dwight Jones, the commissioner of education. “We’re very grateful for the benefit that it will provide for our teachers and our children.”

Jones said the books will help young Spanish speaking students grow in literacy while making the transition to English.

But not everyone thinks accepting the books is a good idea.

“I question the wisdom of that,” said Rep. Kent Lambert, R-Colorado Springs.

Lambert said the fact that the books are generated by a foreign government raises a red flag.

“I don’t care what the government is. If we’re using taxpayer money to educate students in Colorado, they ought to follow the standards of the state. And to my understanding, this has not been vetted through the state school board,” Lambert said.

Fellow lawmaker Karen Middleton disagrees with Lambert.

“If it was being used to serve Colorado state standards that might make sense,” The Aurora democrat said.

Middleton served on the State Board of Education for four years where she was in a position to accept the books.

“Frankly, I don’t think it’s the business of the state Legislature to weigh in,” she said. “We have local control. School districts make the decisions about how to use Spanish language resources.”

Denver Public Schools spokesman Alex Sanchez told 7NEWS, “We use the books as a resource, not as part of the curriculum.”

When asked if the Denver school board vetted the books beforehand, Sanchez said, “The Colorado Department of Education has accepted them. If the department says they're OK, we have no problem.”

Assistant Commissioner of Education Barbara Medina said, “The materials are vetted both through the bi-national process and through agreements by actual teachers from the U.S. and Mexico.”

The Consul General, Eduardo Arnal, said the books are just part of the bi-national program.

“We also have an exchange of teachers. For example, U.S. teachers going to Mexico and Mexican teachers coming here to the United States,” he said.

“There’s something magical about books,” Medina added. “As a former teacher, I can tell you, there’s just something that happens when a kid interacts with ideas and interacts with the world he may or may not know.”