BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 133
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 3, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
AB 133 (Hagman) - As Introduced: January 16, 2013
SUBJECT : Instructional Materials: digital format
SUMMARY : Requires a publisher or manufacturer submitting
printed instructional material for adoption by the State Board
of Education (SBE) or the governing board of a school district
to ensure that the printed instructional material is also
available in digital format, during the entire term of the
adoption.
EXISTING LAW
1)Requires the SBE, via the California Constitution, to adopt
textbooks for use in grades 1-8, inclusive, throughout the
state to be furnished without cost.
2)Requires the SBE to ensure that the instructional materials it
adopts meet specified criteria and requires the criteria be
approved by resolution at the time the resolution adopting the
framework for the current adoption is approved, or at least 12
months before the date that the materials are to be approved
for adoption.
3)Prohibits the SBE from adopting instructional materials or
following the procedures for the adoption of instructional
materials until the 2015-16 school year. Exceptions to this
have been made for the adoption of instructional materials in
mathematics. AB 1246 (Brownley, Chapter 668, Statutes of
2012).
4)Requires the governing board of each school district
maintaining one or more high schools to adopt instructional
materials for use in the high schools under its control, and
specifies that only instructional materials of those
publishers who comply with the specified requirements may be
adopted by the district board.
5)Defines "Technology-based materials" as basic or supplemental
instructional materials that are designed for use by pupils
and teachers as learning resources and that require the
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availability of electronic equipment in order to be used as a
learning resource. Technology-based materials include, but are
not limited to, software programs, video disks, compact disks,
optical disks, video and audiotapes, lesson plans, and
databases.
6)Specifies that technology-based materials do not include the
electronic equipment required to make use of those materials,
unless that equipment is to be used by pupils and teachers as
a learning resource and provides that this definition does not
relieve a school district of the obligation to provide pupils
with sufficient textbooks as specified.
7)Requires pupils be provided with standards-aligned textbooks
or basic instructional materials by the beginning of the first
school term that commences no later than 24 months after those
materials were adopted by the SBE, however for the 2008-09
through 2014-15 fiscal years, school districts are not
required to provide pupils with instructional materials by a
specified period of time following adoption of those materials
by the SBE.
8)Makes clear school districts are not relieved of their
obligations to provide every pupil with textbooks or
instructional materials during the 2008-09 through 2014-15
school years.
9)Defines "sufficient textbooks or instructional materials" to
mean that each pupil, including English learners, has a
standards-aligned textbook or instructional materials, or
both, to use in class and to take home, but does not require
two sets of textbooks or instructional materials to be
purchased for each pupil.
10)Makes clear that instructional materials may be in a digital
format as long as each pupil, at a minimum, has and can access
the same materials in the class and to take home, as all other
pupils in the same class or course in the district and has the
ability to use and access them at home.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed as non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : The most recent statewide adoptions have seen a
number of publishers submit programs that have an integrated
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electronic component, or in some cases, are entirely
technology-based, even though current law does not require
publishers to submit materials for adoption in electronic
formats. A 2007 study of previous SBE adoptions showed that
publishers were beginning to make electronic editions of their
materials available as an alternate format to their print
textbooks. For example, the 2007 math adoption includes 22
basic programs, 10 of which are available on an optical disc,
two are available as online texts, and one program has an
integrated electronic component. The 2008 reading language arts
(RLA) adoption included various electronic components whereas,
the 2002 RLA adoption did not include any electronic versions of
instructional materials. The SBE is set to adopt instructional
materials for mathematics in March, 2014. This work is already
under way and publishers will submit their materials to the SBE
in May, 2013. When the SBE adopted the review criteria for
these materials, the motion expressed their intent that the
criteria should be seen as neutral as to the format of
instructional materials in terms of preparing digital,
interactive, online, and other types of curriculum materials.
Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations currently
stipulates that publishers must provide the California
Department of Education (CDE) "with a URL (uniform resource
locator) to those instructional materials intended for student
use that are being submitted for adoption, and the CDE shall
post on its website direct hyperlinks to the URLs provided by
the publishers. The instructional materials posted on each
publisher's website shall be identical to the hard copy version
of the instructional materials submitted for adoption, except
that copyrighted items that do not allow for posting online may
be omitted and replaced by a description of the omitted item,
and any online features that are absent from the hard copy
version shall be identified." This requirement for posting is
within the context of public inspection of materials being
considered for adoption and not necessarily in the context of
purchasing these materials. This means that even though
publishers submit an electronic version of a program, those
materials may not necessarily be available beyond the submission
period or for purchase by districts. This bill would require
materials to be available for purchase in a digital format and
that the digital format be available for the entire term of the
adoption.
Many of the larger publishers are already moving in the
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direction of including digital versions of instructional
materials, and thus the requirements of this bill may not create
a significant burden on those publishers. However, it is not
clear whether the smaller publishers will be able to meet this
requirement. Many of the small publishers already have a
difficult time with the statewide adoption process and therefore
there is a possibility that this proposal may add an additional
burden on small publishers. Additionally, it is unclear whether
this bill may be requiring publishers to submit the materials in
various electronic formats so that they are compatible with the
various forms of hardware available in the market.
The limited resources or lack thereof have often limited a
district's ability to provide technology-based or electronic
versions of instructional materials to its pupils. School
districts and the state have grappled with funding challenges in
addition to the challenges of ensuring equal access to
technology for all students. It is important to note that this
bill does not require school districts to purchase instructional
materials in any specific format.
An identical bill (AB 1790, Hagman) was passed by the
Legislature in 2012, but vetoed by Governor Brown with the
following message:
"This bill would require textbook publishers to
produce digital "equivalent" versions of printed
instructional materials submitted for adoption by the
State Board of Education or by local school districts.
This bill is contingent on the enactment of Senate
Bill 1154, which I vetoed. As a consequence, this bill
cannot become operative."
Previous Legislation: SB 1154 (Walters) would have required
publishers to make digital instructional materials adopted by
the SBE available for purchase at the same or lower cost as the
print version. Additionally, this bill would have required the
publishers and manufacturers to permit school districts to use
the digital materials to create an on-line database for use in
all of the district's classrooms. SB 1154 was vetoed by Governor
Brown with the following veto message:
"Providing on-line instructional materials and
coursework to pupils in California is an educational
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goal that I very much share.
This bill, however, does not accomplish that goal.
Instead, it puts unrealistic requirements on
California's businesses that will lead to increased
costs of instructional materials."
AB 2211 (Fuentes), Chapter 354, Statutes of 2010, amended the
definition of "sufficient textbooks or instructional materials"
to state that instructional materials may be in a digital format
as long as each pupil, at a minimum, can access the same
materials in the class and to take home, as all other pupils in
the same class or course in the district and has the ability to
use and access them at home.
AB 1010 (Pavley) (2004) would have required a publisher that
makes basic instructional materials available to a school
district in a hard copy format to also make instructional
materials available in an electronic multimedia format. AB 1010
was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger with the following veto
message:
"While I support the idea of using an electronic
multimedia format, it is crucial that we remain
focused on providing all pupils with an actual
textbook in core curricula areas. In addition, I am
concerned about the rising costs of textbooks and this
bill could create increased costs to the State in the
form of higher textbook costs for publishers to comply
with the electronic multimedia format requirement.
Higher costs could make it more difficult for schools
to ensure that pupils have adequate textbooks, which
was a cornerstone of the Williams v. State of
California settlement agreement."
Arguments In Support : This bill will ensure that all materials
are available in multiple formats in order to best serve the
varied needs of California's students. This bill will guarantee
that if a school district elects to provide instructional
materials in a digital format, the district will have the same
choices for instructional materials as all other districts.
According to the author, students who have e-readers do not have
the option to receive their texts in a format that would be
compatible to view on these devices. This has done a disservice
to both school districts and students who own these devices and
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would prefer to learn from them. Due to the increasing
popularity of these educational tools, many children now use
e-readers as their primary reading tool.
Arguments In Opposition : This bill rests on the assumption that
the reason pupils are not using digital instructional materials
is because the publishers and manufacturers are not making them
available for purchase. However, many of the State's currently
adopted materials are available in digital format and are being
used by those districts with adequate infrastructure to access
those materials. This bill does nothing to ensure that pupils
have access to the technology that will support and encourage
their academic achievement and curiosity.
Staff recommends an amendment to make clear this requirement
applies only to those instructional materials submitted for
adoption to the SBE or a local governing board on or after
January 1, 2014 and not to those materials that will be
submitted prior to January 1, 2014.
The author has also requested an amendment to add Senator
Nielsen and Assembly Member Garcia as co-authors on this bill.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Association of Publishers
California Communities United Institute
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Jill Rice / ED. / (916) 319-2087