1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the selection, distribution, and use of public school
1-3 textbooks; providing administrative and criminal penalties.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 26.006, Education Code, is amended by
1-6 adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
1-7 (c) A student's parent is entitled to request that the
1-8 school district or open-enrollment charter school the student
1-9 attends allow the student to take home any textbook used by the
1-10 student. Subject to the availability of a textbook, the district
1-11 or school shall honor the request. A student who takes home a
1-12 textbook must return the textbook to school at the beginning of the
1-13 next school day if requested to do so by the student's teacher. In
1-14 this subsection, "textbook" has the meaning assigned by Section
1-15 31.002.
1-16 SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 31, Education Code, is
1-17 amended by adding Section 31.030 to read as follows:
1-18 Sec. 31.030. USED TEXTBOOKS. The State Board of Education
1-19 shall adopt rules to ensure that used textbooks sold to school
1-20 districts and open-enrollment charter schools are not sample copies
1-21 that contain factual errors. The rules may provide for the
1-22 imposition of an administrative penalty in accordance with Section
1-23 31.151 against a seller of used textbooks who knowingly violates
1-24 this section.
2-1 SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 31, Education Code, is
2-2 amended by adding Section 31.1011 to read as follows:
2-3 Sec. 31.1011. TEXTBOOK CREDITS. (a) The commissioner shall
2-4 implement a program to study the use of credits for textbooks. The
2-5 program shall be designed to allow a participating school district
2-6 or open-enrollment charter school to receive credit for textbooks
2-7 purchased at a cost below the cost limit established under Section
2-8 31.025(a).
2-9 (b) The credit is an amount equal to the difference between
2-10 the price paid for a textbook and the cost limit established under
2-11 Section 31.025(a) for that textbook multiplied by the number of
2-12 copies of that textbook the participating school district or
2-13 open-enrollment charter school purchases.
2-14 (c) Fifty percent of the total textbook credit of a
2-15 participating school district or open-enrollment charter school
2-16 shall be credited to the state textbook fund, and 50 percent of the
2-17 credit shall be credited to the participating district or school to
2-18 apply toward the requisition of additional textbooks or electronic
2-19 textbooks on the conforming or nonconforming list.
2-20 (d) The commissioner shall prepare a report relating to the
2-21 use of the textbook credit system and deliver the report to the
2-22 79th Legislature.
2-23 (e) This section expires September 1, 2005.
2-24 SECTION 4. Section 31.103, Education Code, is amended by
2-25 adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
2-26 (c) In making a requisition under this section, a school
2-27 district or open-enrollment charter school may requisition
3-1 textbooks on the conforming or nonconforming list for grades above
3-2 the grade level in which a student is enrolled, except that the
3-3 total quantity of textbooks requisitioned under this section may
3-4 not exceed the limit prescribed by Subsection (b).
3-5 SECTION 5. Subchapter C, Chapter 31, Education Code, is
3-6 amended by adding Section 31.1031 to read as follows:
3-7 Sec. 31.1031. SHORTAGE OF REQUISITIONED TEXTBOOKS. If a
3-8 school district or open-enrollment charter school does not have a
3-9 sufficient number of copies of a textbook used by the district or
3-10 school for use during the following school year, and a sufficient
3-11 number of additional copies will not be available from the
3-12 depository or the publisher within the time specified by Section
3-13 31.151(a)(8), the district or school is entitled to:
3-14 (1) be reimbursed from the state textbook fund, at a
3-15 rate and in the manner provided by State Board of Education rule,
3-16 for the purchase of a sufficient number of used adopted textbooks;
3-17 or
3-18 (2) return currently used textbooks to the
3-19 commissioner in exchange for sufficient copies, if available, of
3-20 other textbooks on the conforming or nonconforming list to be used
3-21 during the following school year.
3-22 SECTION 6. Section 31.104(c), Education Code, is amended to
3-23 read as follows:
3-24 (c) Each textbook must state that the textbook is the
3-25 property of or is licensed to this state, as appropriate. [A
3-26 school district or open-enrollment charter school must number or
3-27 place another identifying mark on each textbook. Each teacher
4-1 shall keep a record of the number or other identifying mark of each
4-2 textbook issued to each student.] Each textbook, other than an
4-3 electronic textbook, must be covered by the student under the
4-4 direction of the teacher. [Subject to availability, each school
4-5 district or open-enrollment charter school shall, at the request of
4-6 a parent or guardian of a student enrolled in the district or
4-7 school, allow the student to take home any textbook, other than an
4-8 electronic textbook, used by the student. The student must return
4-9 the textbook to school at the beginning of the next school day.] A
4-10 student must return all textbooks to the teacher at the end of the
4-11 school year or when the student withdraws from school.
4-12 SECTION 7. Section 31.151(a), Education Code, is amended to
4-13 read as follows:
4-14 (a) A publisher or manufacturer of textbooks:
4-15 (1) shall furnish any textbook the publisher or
4-16 manufacturer offers in this state, at a price that does not exceed
4-17 the lowest price at which the publisher offers that textbook for
4-18 adoption or sale to any state, public school, or school district in
4-19 the United States;
4-20 (2) shall automatically reduce the price of a textbook
4-21 sold for use in a school district or open-enrollment charter school
4-22 to the extent that the price is reduced elsewhere in the United
4-23 States;
4-24 (3) shall provide any textbook or ancillary item free
4-25 of charge in this state to the same extent that the publisher or
4-26 manufacturer provides the textbook or ancillary item free of charge
4-27 to any state, public school, or school district in the United
5-1 States;
5-2 (4) shall guarantee that each copy of a textbook sold
5-3 in this state is at least equal in quality to copies of that
5-4 textbook sold elsewhere in the United States and is free from
5-5 factual error;
5-6 (5) may not become associated or connected with,
5-7 directly or indirectly, any combination in restraint of trade in
5-8 textbooks or enter into any understanding or combination to control
5-9 prices or restrict competition in the sale of textbooks for use in
5-10 this state;
5-11 (6) shall maintain a depository in this state or
5-12 arrange with a depository in this state to receive and fill orders
5-13 for textbooks, consistent with State Board of Education rules;
5-14 (7) shall, at the time an order for textbooks is
5-15 acknowledged, provide to school districts or open-enrollment
5-16 charter schools an accurate shipping date for textbooks that are
5-17 back-ordered;
5-18 (8) shall guarantee delivery of textbooks at least 10
5-19 business days before the opening day of school of the year for
5-20 which the textbooks are ordered if the textbooks are ordered by a
5-21 date specified in the sales contract; and
5-22 (9) [(8)] shall submit to the State Board of Education
5-23 an affidavit certifying any textbook the publisher or manufacturer
5-24 offers in this state to be free of factual errors at the time the
5-25 publisher executes the contract required by Section 31.026.
5-26 SECTION 8. Section 31.152, Education Code, is amended to read
5-27 as follows:
6-1 Sec. 31.152. ACCEPTING REBATE ON TEXTBOOKS. (a) A school
6-2 trustee, administrator, or teacher commits an offense if that
6-3 person receives any commission or rebate on any textbooks used in
6-4 the schools with which the person is associated as a trustee,
6-5 administrator, or teacher.
6-6 (b) A school trustee, administrator, or teacher commits an
6-7 offense if the person accepts a gift, favor, or service that:
6-8 (1) is given to the person or the person's school;
6-9 (2) might reasonably tend to influence a trustee,
6-10 administrator, or teacher in the selection of a textbook; and
6-11 (3) could not be lawfully purchased with funds from
6-12 the state textbook fund.
6-13 (c) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.
6-14 (d) In this section, "gift, favor, or service" does not
6-15 include:
6-16 (1) staff development, in-service, or teacher
6-17 training; or
6-18 (2) instructional materials, such as maps or
6-19 worksheets, that convey information to the student or otherwise
6-20 contribute to the learning process.
6-21 SECTION 9. (a) The change in law made by Section 8 of this
6-22 Act applies only to an offense committed on or after September 1,
6-23 2001. For the purposes of this section, an offense is committed
6-24 before September 1, 2001, if any element of the offense occurs
6-25 before that date.
6-26 (b) An offense committed before September 1, 2001, is
6-27 covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and
7-1 the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
7-2 SECTION 10. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
7-3 section, this Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of
7-4 two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by
7-5 Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not
7-6 receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes
7-7 effect September 1, 2001.
7-8 (b) Section 8 of this Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 623 was passed by the House on
April 24, 2001, by the following vote: Yeas 141, Nays 0, 2
present, not voting; and that the House concurred in Senate
amendments to H.B. No. 623 on May 24, 2001, by the following vote:
Yeas 136, Nays 0, 2 present, not voting.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 623 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 17, 2001, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays
0, 1 present, not voting.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________________
Date
__________________________
Governor