By Hochberg H.B. No. 623
Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the purchase and distribution of textbooks.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 26.006, Chapter 26, Education Code, is
1-5 amended to read as follows:
1-6 (a) A parent is entitled to:
1-7 (1) review all teaching materials, textbooks, and
1-8 other teaching aids used in the classroom of the parent's child;
1-9 and
1-10 (2) review each test administered to the parent's
1-11 child after the test is administered.
1-12 (b) A school district shall make teaching materials and
1-13 tests readily available for review by parents. The district may
1-14 specify reasonable hours for review. Subject to availability, each
1-15 school district or open-enrollment charter school shall, at the
1-16 request of a parent or guardian of a student enrolled in the
1-17 district or school, allow the student to take home any textbook,
1-18 other than an electronic textbook, used by the student. The
1-19 student must return the textbook to school at the beginning of the
1-20 next school day.
1-21 SECTION 2. Section 31.103, Subchapter C, Chapter 31,
1-22 Education Code, is amended to read as follows:
2-1 (a) Not later than the seventh day after the first school
2-2 day in April, each principal shall report the maximum attendance
2-3 for the school to the superintendent. Not later than April 25, the
2-4 superintendent of a school district or the chief operating officer
2-5 of an open-enrollment charter school shall report the district's or
2-6 school's maximum attendance to the commissioner.
2-7 (b) A requisition for textbooks for the following school
2-8 year shall be based on the maximum attendance reports under
2-9 Subsection (a), plus an additional 10 percent, except as otherwise
2-10 provided. A school district or open-enrollment charter school
2-11 shall make a requisition for a textbook on the conforming or
2-12 nonconforming list through the commissioner to the state depository
2-13 designated by each publisher or as provided by State Board of
2-14 Education rule, as applicable, not later than June 1 of each year.
2-15 The designated state depository or other storage facility shall
2-16 fill a requisition approved by the agency at any other time in the
2-17 case of an emergency.
2-18 (c) In making a requisition under this section, a school
2-19 district or open-enrollment charter school may requisition
2-20 textbooks on the conforming or nonconforming lists for grades above
2-21 the grade level in which a student is enrolled provided that the
2-22 total quantity requisitioned does not exceed the limit in
2-23 Subsection (b).
2-24 SECTION 3. Section 31.104(c), Subchapter C, Chapter 31,
2-25 Education Code, is amended to read as follows:
2-26 (c) Each textbook must state that the textbook is the
3-1 property of or is licensed to this state, as appropriate. [A
3-2 school district or open-enrollment charter school must number or
3-3 place another identifying mark on each textbook. Each teacher
3-4 shall keep a record of the number or other identifying mark of each
3-5 textbook issued to each student.] Each textbook, other than an
3-6 electronic textbook, must be covered by the student under the
3-7 direction of the teacher. [Subject to availability, each school
3-8 district or open-enrollment charter school shall, at the request of
3-9 a parent or guardian of a student enrolled in the district or
3-10 school, allow the student to take home any textbook, other than an
3-11 electronic textbook, used by the student. The student must return
3-12 the textbook to school at the beginning of the next school day.] A
3-13 student must return all textbooks to the teacher at the end of the
3-14 school year or when the student withdraws from school.
3-15 SECTION 4. Subchapter C, Chapter 31, Education Code, is
3-16 amended to add Section 31.107 to read as follows:
3-17 Sec. 31.107. TEXTBOOK CREDITS. (a) The Commissioner shall
3-18 implement a program to study the use of credits for textbooks. The
3-19 program shall be designed to allow a participating school district
3-20 or open-enrollment charter school to receive credit for textbooks
3-21 purchased below the maximum allowable price.
3-22 (b) The credit shall be computed as the difference between
3-23 the price paid for the textbooks and the maximum allowable price
3-24 for the textbooks, multiplied by the number of textbooks purchased
3-25 by the participating school district or open-enrollment charter
3-26 school.
4-1 (c) The Commissioner shall distribute 50 percent of the
4-2 credit of a participating school district or open-enrollment
4-3 charter school to the state textbook fund and 50 percent to the
4-4 participating school districts and open-enrollment charter schools
4-5 to apply toward the requisition of additional textbooks or
4-6 electronic textbooks on the conforming and nonconforming lists.
4-7 (d) The Commissioner shall present the findings of the use
4-8 of the credit system to the 79th Legislature.
4-9 (e) This section expires September 1, 2005.
4-10 SECTION 5. Subchapter C, Chapter 31, Education Code, is
4-11 amended to add Section 31.108 to read as follows:
4-12 Sec. 31.108. USED AND RETURNED TEXTBOOKS. If sufficient
4-13 additional copies of a textbook that is currently used by a school
4-14 district or open-enrollment charter school are not available before
4-15 the beginning of the following school year, the school district or
4-16 open-enrollment charter school is permitted to:
4-17 (1) be reimbursed by the state textbook fund, at a
4-18 rate provided by State Board of Education rule, for the purchase of
4-19 used textbooks; or
4-20 (2) return currently-used textbooks to the
4-21 Commissioner in exchange for sufficient copies of other textbooks
4-22 on the conforming or nonconforming lists to be used during the
4-23 following school year.
4-24 SECTION 6. Section 31.151(a), Subchapter C, Chapter 31,
4-25 Education Code, is amended to read as follows:
4-26 (a) A publisher or manufacturer of textbooks:
5-1 (1) shall furnish any textbook the publisher or
5-2 manufacturer offers in this state, at a price that does not exceed
5-3 the lowest price at which the publisher offers that textbook for
5-4 adoption or sale to any state, public school, or school district in
5-5 the United States;
5-6 (2) shall automatically reduce the price of a textbook
5-7 sold for use in a school district or open-enrollment charter school
5-8 to the extent that the price is reduced elsewhere in the United
5-9 States;
5-10 (3) shall provide any textbook or ancillary item free
5-11 of charge in this state to the same extent that the publisher or
5-12 manufacturer provides the textbook or ancillary item free of charge
5-13 to any state, public school, or school district in the United
5-14 States;
5-15 (4) shall guarantee that each copy of a textbook sold
5-16 in this state is at least equal in quality to copies of that
5-17 textbook sold elsewhere in the United States and is free from
5-18 factual error;
5-19 (5) may not become associated or connected with,
5-20 directly or indirectly, any combination in restraint of trade in
5-21 textbooks or enter into any understanding or combination to control
5-22 prices or restrict competition in the sale of textbooks for use in
5-23 this state;
5-24 (6) shall maintain a depository in this state or
5-25 arrange with a depository in this state to receive and fill orders
5-26 for textbooks, consistent with State Board of Education rules;
6-1 (7) shall provide to school districts or
6-2 open-enrollment charter schools an accurate shipping date for
6-3 back-ordered textbooks at the time the order is acknowledged;
6-4 (8) shall guarantee delivery of textbooks at least 10
6-5 business days before the opening day of school of the year for
6-6 which the textbooks are ordered if the textbooks are ordered by a
6-7 date specified in the sales contract;
6-8 (8) (9) shall submit to the State Board of Education
6-9 an affidavit certifying any textbook the publisher or manufacturer
6-10 offers in this state to be free of factual errors at the time the
6-11 publisher executes the contract required by Section 31.026.
6-12 SECTION 7. Section 31.152, Subchapter C, Chapter 31,
6-13 Education Code, is amended to read as follows:
6-14 (a) A school trustee, administrator, or teacher commits an
6-15 offense if that person receives any commission or rebate on any
6-16 textbooks used in the schools with which the person is associated
6-17 as a trustee, administrator, or teacher. Gifts, favors, or
6-18 services given to the school or any person that might reasonably
6-19 tend to influence a trustee, administrator or teacher in the
6-20 selection of a textbook and which could not be lawfully purchased
6-21 with funds from the state textbook fund may not be accepted.
6-22 (b) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.
6-23 SECTION 8. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect immediately
6-24 if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to
6-25 each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas
6-26 Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for
7-1 immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2001.