Bill Text: TX SB1784 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relating to open-source instructional material for public schools.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2017-06-15 - Effective immediately [SB1784 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-SB1784-Introduced.html

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By: Taylor of Galveston S.B. No. 1784

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to state-developed open education resources for public
schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1 . Section 31.002, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subdivision (1-a) and adding Subdivision (1-b) to read as
follows:
(1-a) "Open education resources" means teaching,
learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain
or have been released under an intellectual property license that
permits the free use, reuse, modification, and sharing of the
resource with others, including full courses, course materials,
modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any
other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to
knowledge. The term includes a state-developed open education
resource purchased under Subchapter B-1.
(1-b) "Open-source instructional material" means
electronic instructional material that is available for
downloading from the Internet at no charge to a student and without
requiring the purchase of an unlock code, membership, or other
access or use charge, except for a charge to order an optional
printed copy of all or part of the instructional material. [The
term includes state-developed open-source instructional material
purchased under Subchapter B-1.]
SECTION 2. Section 31.021(c), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) Money in the state instructional materials fund shall be
used to:
(1) fund the instructional materials allotment, as
provided by Section 31.0211;
(2) purchase special instructional materials for the
education of blind and visually impaired students in public
schools;
(3) pay the expenses associated with the instructional
materials adoption and review process under this chapter;
(4) pay the expenses associated with the purchase or
licensing of open education resources and open-source
instructional material;
(5) pay the expenses associated with the purchase of
instructional material, including intrastate freight and shipping
and the insurance expenses associated with intrastate freight and
shipping; and
(6) [fund the technology lending grant program
established under Section 32.201; and
[(7)] provide funding to the Texas School for the Blind and
Visually Impaired, the Texas School for the Deaf, and the Texas
Juvenile Justice Department. SECTION 3. Section 31.0211(c),
Education Code, is amended to read as follows:
(c) Subject to Subsection (d), funds allotted under this
section may be used to:
(1) purchase:
(A) materials on the list adopted by the
commissioner, as provided by Section 31.0231;
(B) instructional materials, regardless of
whether the instructional materials are on the list adopted under
Section 31.024;
(C) consumable instructional materials,
including workbooks;
(D) instructional materials for use in bilingual
education classes, as provided by Section 31.029;
(E) instructional materials for use in college
preparatory courses under Section 28.014, as provided by Section
31.031;
(F) supplemental instructional materials, as
provided by Section 31.035;
(G) state-developed open education resources
[open-source instructional materials], as provided by Subchapter
B-1;
(H) instructional materials and technological
equipment under any continuing contracts of the district in effect
on September 1, 2011; and
(I) technological equipment necessary to support
the use of materials included on the list adopted by the
commissioner under Section 31.0231 or any instructional materials
purchased with an allotment under this section; and
(2) pay:
(A) for training education personnel directly
involved in student learning in the appropriate use of
instructional materials and for providing for access to
technological equipment for instructional use; and
(B) the salary and other expenses of an employee
who provides technical support for the use of technological
equipment directly involved in student learning.
SECTION 4. Section 31.027(c), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) This section does not apply to open education resources
[open-source instructional material].
SECTION 5. The heading to Subchapter B-1, Chapter 31,
Education Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER B-1. STATE-DEVELOPED OPEN EDUCATION RESOURCES
[OPEN-SOURCE INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS]
SECTION 6. Section 31.071, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 31.071. PURCHASE AUTHORITY. (a) The commissioner may
purchase state-developed open education resources [open-source
instructional materials] in accordance with this subchapter.
(b) The commissioner:
(1) shall purchase any state-developed open education
resources [open-source instructional materials] through a
competitive process; and
(2) may purchase more than one state-developed open
education resource [open-source instructional material] for a
subject or grade level.
(c) Except as provided by Section 31.0711, a
state-developed open education resource [State-developed
open-source instructional material] must be irrevocably owned by or
licensed to the state for use in the applicable subject or grade
level. The state must have unlimited authority to modify, delete,
combine, or add content to the resource [instructional material]
after purchase.
(d) The commissioner may issue a request for proposals for
state-developed open education resources [open-source
instructional material]:
(1) in accordance with the instructional material
review and adoption cycle under Section 31.022; or
(2) at any other time the commissioner determines that
a need exists for additional instructional material options.
(e) The costs of administering this subchapter and
purchasing state-developed open education resources [open-source
instructional materials] shall be paid from the state instructional
materials fund, as determined by the commissioner.
SECTION 7. Subchapter B-1, Chapter 31, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 31.0711 to read as follows:
Sec. 31.0711. CONTENT NOT OWNED BY STATE. (a) A
state-developed open education resource may include content not
owned by the state and for which preexisting rights may exist if the
content:
(1) is in the public domain;
(2) may be used under a limitation or exception to
copyright law; or
(3) is licensed to the state for use in an open
education resource.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), a license
described by Subsection (a)(3) must:
(1) grant the state unlimited authority to modify,
delete, combine, or add content; and
(2) permit the free use and repurposing of the
resource by any person.
(c) The commissioner may waive a requirement under
Subsection (b) if:
(1) it is not reasonably practical to cover a specific
element of essential knowledge and skills with content that the
state could own or use without waiving a requirement;
(2) the licensed content:
(A) may be incorporated into a state-developed
open education resource without substantially reducing the
authority of the state or another person to use or repurpose the
resource as a whole, excluding the specific content to which the
waiver applies; and
(B) has been generally available to the public
before consideration was given to including the content in a
state-developed open education resource; and
(3) the authority of the state to use the licensed
content is not any more restrictive than the authority generally
available to the public to use the content.
(d) A state-developed open education resource that includes
licensed content for which the commissioner waived a requirement
under Subsection (c) must include clear notice of the limitations
on a user's authority to use or repurpose the licensed content.
SECTION 8. Section 31.072, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 31.072. CONTENT REQUIREMENTS. (a) State-developed
open education resources [open-source instructional material]
must:
(1) be evaluated by teachers or other experts, as
determined by the commissioner, before purchase; and
(2) meet the requirements for inclusion on the
instructional material list adopted under Section 31.023.
(b) Following a curriculum revision by the State Board of
Education, the commissioner shall require the revision of
state-developed open education resources [open-source
instructional material] relating to that curriculum. The
commissioner may, at any time, require an additional revision of
state-developed open education resources [open-source
instructional material] or contract for ongoing revisions of
state-developed open education resources [open-source
instructional material] for a period not to exceed the period under
Section 31.022 for which instructional material for that subject
and grade level may be adopted. The commissioner shall use a
competitive process to request proposals to revise state-developed
open education resources [open-source instructional material]
under this subsection.
SECTION 9. Sections 31.073(c) and (d), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(c) Notwithstanding Section 31.022, a school district or
open-enrollment charter school may adopt state-developed open
education resources [open-source instructional material] at any
time, regardless of the instructional material review and adoption
cycle under that section.
(d) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may
not be charged for selection of state-developed open education
resources [open-source instructional material] in addition to
instructional material adopted under Subchapter B.
SECTION 10. Section 31.074, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 31.074. DISTRIBUTION. (a) The commissioner shall
provide for the distribution of state-developed open education
resources [open-source instructional materials] in a manner
consistent with distribution of instructional materials adopted
under Subchapter B.
(b) The commissioner may use a competitive process to
contract for printing or other reproduction of state-developed open
education resources [open-source instructional material] on behalf
of a school district or open-enrollment charter school. The
commissioner may not require a school district or open-enrollment
charter school to contract with a state-approved provider for the
printing or reproduction of state-developed open education
resources [open-source instructional material].
SECTION 11. Section 31.075, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 31.075. OWNERSHIP; LICENSING. (a) A state-developed
open education resource [State-developed open-source instructional
material] is the property of the state.
(b) To encourage the use of state-developed open education
resources by school districts and open-enrollment charter schools,
the [The] commissioner shall provide a license for a
state-developed open education resource that allows for the free
use, reuse, modification, or sharing of the resource by any person
[to each public school in the state, including a school district, an
open-enrollment charter school, and a state or local agency
educating students in any grade from prekindergarten through high
school, to use and reproduce state-developed open-source
instructional material].
(c) A license provided by the commissioner under this
section:
(1) unless exempted by the commissioner, shall require
that a user who reproduces a state-developed open education
resource in any manner:
(A) except as provided by Subdivision (2)(A),
must keep all copyright notices for the resource intact;
(B) except as provided by Subdivision (2)(A),
must attribute the authorship of the resource to the agency or
another person specified by the commissioner;
(C) must indicate if the user has modified the
resource; and
(D) may not assert or imply any connection with
or sponsorship or endorsement by the agency or this state, unless
authorized by the commissioner; and
(2) must provide that:
(A) the commissioner may request that a user
remove a copyright notice or attribution from the resource and that
a user must comply with the request to the extent reasonably
practicable; and
(B) the rights granted under the license to a
user are automatically terminated if the user fails to comply with
the terms of the license [The commissioner may provide a license to
use state-developed open-source instructional material to an
entity not listed in Subsection (b). In determining the cost of a
license under this subsection, the commissioner shall seek, to the
extent feasible, to recover the costs of developing, revising, and
distributing state-developed open-source instructional
materials].
(d) The commissioner may:
(1) specify requirements to reinstate a user's rights
under a license that has been terminated; and
(2) reinstate a user's rights on completion of those
requirements.
(e) The commissioner may use a license commonly applied to
an open education resource in implementing this section.
SECTION 12. Section 31.076(b), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) A decision by the commissioner regarding the purchase,
revision, cost, or distribution of state-developed open education
resources [open-source instructional material] is final and may not
be appealed.
SECTION 13. Section 31.103(d), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(d) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
that selects an open education resource or open-source
instructional material shall requisition a sufficient number of
printed copies for use by students unable to access the
instructional material electronically unless the district or
school provides to each student:
(1) electronic access to the instructional material at
no cost to the student; or
(2) printed copies of the portion of the instructional
material that will be used in the course.
SECTION 14. Sections 31.104(b), (g), and (h), Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may
order replacements for instructional materials that have been lost
or damaged directly from the publisher of the instructional
materials or any source for a printed copy of an open education
resource or open-source instructional material.
(g) At the end of the school year for which an open education
resource or open-source instructional material that a school
district or open-enrollment charter school does not intend to use
for another student is distributed, the printed copy of the open
education resource or open-source instructional material becomes
the property of the student to whom it is distributed.
(h) This section does not apply to an electronic copy of an
open education resource or open-source instructional material.
SECTION 15. Section 31.077, Education Code, is repealed.
SECTION 16. 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, 2017.