| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to requiring the disclosure of certain information |
|
|
regarding public school teaching materials and activities. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Chapter 26, Education Code, is amended by adding |
|
|
Section 26.0061 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 26.0061. REQUIRED DISCLOSURE REGARDING TEACHING |
|
|
MATERIALS AND ACTIVITIES. (a) In this section: |
|
|
(1) "Activity" includes a presentation, assembly, |
|
|
lecture, or other event facilitated by a school district or |
|
|
open-enrollment charter school, other than a student presentation. |
|
|
(2) "Teaching material" includes: |
|
|
(A) instructional material, as that term is |
|
|
defined by Section 31.002; |
|
|
(B) teaching aids; and |
|
|
(C) any other material a student is given the |
|
|
option to select for the student's instruction. |
|
|
(b) Subject to Subsection (h), not later than the fifth day |
|
|
of each month, each school district and open-enrollment charter |
|
|
school shall make available to the public on the district's or |
|
|
school's Internet website: |
|
|
(1) a list disaggregated by subject area and grade |
|
|
level that states all information, including the title, author, |
|
|
organization, or Internet website, as applicable, necessary to |
|
|
identify a teaching material or activity that was assigned, |
|
|
distributed, or otherwise presented to the district's or school's |
|
|
students during the preceding month in: |
|
|
(A) a course for which students receive academic |
|
|
credit; or |
|
|
(B) an educational event that the district or |
|
|
school requires students to attend or in which a majority of |
|
|
students participate; |
|
|
(2) the district's or school's procedures for |
|
|
documenting, reviewing, or approving a teaching material or |
|
|
activity described by Subdivision (1); and |
|
|
(3) any changes made in the preceding month to the |
|
|
procedures described by Subdivision (2). |
|
|
(c) For purposes of Subsection (b)(1), a school district or |
|
|
open-enrollment charter school is not required to list the |
|
|
individual components of teaching materials produced as a single |
|
|
volume, except that, for a volume that contains works by multiple |
|
|
authors, the district or school shall include in the list under that |
|
|
subsection: |
|
|
(1) a table of contents for the volume; or |
|
|
(2) a link to an Internet website that discloses the |
|
|
title and author of each work included in the volume. |
|
|
(d) Information posted to a school district's or |
|
|
open-enrollment charter school's Internet website under Subsection |
|
|
(b) must be maintained on the website for not less than one year. |
|
|
(e) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may |
|
|
use collaborative online document or spreadsheet software to |
|
|
prepare or post on the district's or school's Internet website the |
|
|
information required under Subsection (b). |
|
|
(f) If requested by the parents of five or more enrolled |
|
|
students who are not siblings, a school district or open-enrollment |
|
|
charter school shall conduct: |
|
|
(1) an administrative review to determine whether the |
|
|
information required to be posted on the district's or school's |
|
|
Internet website under Subsection (b) was posted as required by |
|
|
that subsection; or |
|
|
(2) a review of the teaching materials and activities |
|
|
described by Subsection (b) to determine whether each teaching |
|
|
material and activity is: |
|
|
(A) appropriate for the grade level at which the |
|
|
material or activity is used; and |
|
|
(B) aligned with the essential knowledge and |
|
|
skills for the grade level at which the material or activity is |
|
|
used. |
|
|
(g) This section does not require a school district or |
|
|
open-enrollment charter school to reproduce a teaching material or |
|
|
activity described by Subsection (b)(1). |
|
|
(h) This section does not apply to: |
|
|
(1) a school district or open-enrollment charter |
|
|
school with a student enrollment of less than 300 students; or |
|
|
(2) a teaching material or activity described by |
|
|
Subsection (b)(1) that is selected independently by teachers |
|
|
employed at a campus with a student enrollment of less than 50 |
|
|
students for use only at that campus. |
|
|
SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024 |
|
|
school year. |
|
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
|
|
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
|
|
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
|
|
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
|
|
Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |