Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) Chair, Ms. Gail Lowe, submitted an opinion request to the Texas Attorney General (AG) regarding a public school textbook adoption under recent legislative amendments to the Education Code (RQ-0887-GA). The AG’s opinion answers five of the eight questions posed by Ms. Lowe.
The summary of the opinion follows:
Section 31.101(c-1) of the Education Code requires a school district or an open-enrollment charter school to purchase “a classroom set of textbooks” according to the statute’s terms. Tex. Educ. Code Ann. § 31.101(c-1) (West Supp. 2010). We cannot address whether the State Board of Education (“SBOE”) has appropriately implemented the section without information about the SBOE’s specific legal concerns and its interpretation of its rules. However, university open-source textbooks adopted pursuant to Education Code section 31.023 or 31.035 may serve as a classroom set of textbooks under section 31.101(c-1). Also, a classroom set under section 31.101(c-1) may include textbooks on the nonconforming list that do not cover the entire state curriculum. Education Code section 26.006(c), which requires a school district or charter school to honor a parent’s request to allow the student to take home any textbook used by the student if it is available, applies to a textbook that is part of a classroom set of textbooks.
The SBOE has no authority under section 31.0241 of the Education Code to decline to place an open-source textbook on the conforming or nonconforming textbook list if the SBOE disagrees with an eligible institution’s determination that the textbook qualifies for placement on the conforming or nonconforming list. Assuming that a university is properly characterized as a publisher with respect to an open-source textbook, the SBOE has authority to impose an administrative penalty on such a university for violations under subchapter D, chapter 31 of the Education Code. If an open-enrollment charter school or school district acquires a university open-source textbook at a cost below the cost limit established under section 31.025(a) of the Education Code, the school or district is entitled to a credit.
Section 31.102 of the Education Code, which provides that “[e]ach textbook purchased as provided by this chapter is the property of this state,” does not include technological equipment as property of the state. Id. § 31.102(a) (West 2006).
For a complete copy of the request, please visit: http://www.oag.state.tx.us/opinions/opinions/50abbott/rq/2010/pdf/RQ0887GA.pdf
For a complete copy of the opinion, please visit: http://www.oag.state.tx.us/opinions/opinions/50abbott/op/2010/htm/ga-0823.htm
