AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT
Inequities have long existed between the State Board of Education (SBOE) instructional materials (IMs) adoption process and local independent school district (ISD) selection of non-state adopted IMs. But S.B. 6, 82nd Legislature, Regular Session, 2011, aggravated those inequities by, for the first time, allowing ISDs to purchase non-state adopted IMs with state funds. Current ISD selection of non-state adopted IMs can lack the transparency and accountability of the state adoption process. This bill aims to empower SBOE to upgrade ISD selection of non-state adopted IMs to be purchased with state funds, to the higher constitutional content and ethical standards of the SBOE state adoption process.
S.B. 1711 authorizes SBOE to set minimum standards for local ISD selection of non-state adopted IMs to be purchased with state funds.
As proposed, S.B. 1711 amends current law relating to rules which insure that local independent school district selection of non-state adopted instructional materials to be purchased with state funds is as accountable and transparent as the State Board of Education approval process for state-adopted instructional materials.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
Rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the State Board of Education in SECTION 1 (Section 31.003, Education Code) of this bill.
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Section 31.003, Education Code, by designating the current rule as Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (b), (b-1), (b-2), (b-3), (b-4), (b-5), and (b-6), as follows:
(a) Creates this subsection from existing text.
(b) Authorizes the State Board of Education to by rule set minimum standards for local procedures selecting non-state adopted instructional materials to be purchased with state funds only in the areas of:
(1) public notice, access, and input;
(2) review by independent panel to determine coverage of the essential knowledge and skills;
(3) prevention/correction of factual errors;
(4) coverage of essential knowledge and skills in the student version as well as in the teacher version of instructional materials, pursuant to Section 31.023(a), Education Code;
(5) compliance with the stated purpose of Section 28.002(h), Education Code; and
(6) safeguards against corruption.
SECTION 2. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2015.