BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1052|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1052
Author: Steinberg (D), et al.
Amended: 8/20/12
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 7-1, 4/11/12
AYES: Lowenthal, Alquist, Hancock, Liu, Price, Simitian,
Vargas
NOES: Blakeslee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner, Huff, Vacancy
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-2, 5/24/12
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Lieu, Price, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Dutton
SENATE FLOOR : 32-3, 5/30/12
AYES: Alquist, Anderson, Berryhill, Calderon, Cannella,
Corbett, Correa, De Le�n, DeSaulnier, Emmerson, Evans,
Fuller, Gaines, Harman, Hernandez, Kehoe, La Malfa, Leno,
Lieu, Liu, Lowenthal, Negrete McLeod, Padilla, Pavley,
Price, Rubio, Steinberg, Vargas, Wolk, Wright, Wyland,
Yee
NOES: Blakeslee, Dutton, Huff
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hancock, Runner, Simitian, Strickland,
Walters
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 63-16, 8/27/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Postsecondary education: California Open
Education Resources Council
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SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill provides for the development of
low-cost digital textbooks for 50 lower division courses,
as specified, across the state's public postsecondary
education segments, subject to state and/or private
funding.
Assembly Amendments (1) require a report to the Legislature
and Governor on implementation of the program no later than
six months after the bill becomes operative; (2) refine and
strengthen the criteria used by the Council to determine
which 50 courses to focus their efforts on; (3) clarify
that existing open education resources that meet quality
specifications may be brought in; (4) remove the
requirement for publishers to provide free books for
placement on library reserves; (5) provide for student
input in the process on open source education textbooks;
(6) clarify accessibility provisions for students with
disabilities; (7) delete the reference to $25 million in
the findings and declarations; (8) clarify in SB 1053 that
there is no mandate on faculty to adopt any particular
book; and (9) make various technical changes.
ANALYSIS : Existing law requires, by January 1, 2020,
publishers of textbooks used at the University of
California (UC), the California State University (CSU), the
California Community Colleges (CCC), or private
postsecondary educational institutions, to the extent
practicable, to make textbooks available in whole or in
part for sale in an electronic format and requires the
electronic format to contain the same content as the
printed version.
Existing law, the College Textbook Transparency Act,
requires faculty members and academic departments at an
institution of higher education to consider cost in the
adoption of textbooks, and requires textbook publishers to
disclose specified information.
Existing law requires the Trustees of the CSU and the Board
of Governors of the CCC, and requests the UC Regents to
work with the academic senates to encourage faculty to give
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consideration to the least costly practices in assigning
textbooks, to encourage faculty to disclose to students how
new editions of textbooks are different from previous
editions and the cost to students for textbooks selected,
among other things. Existing law also urges textbook
publishers to provide information to faculty when they are
considering what textbooks to order, and to post
information on the publishers' Web sites, including "an
explanation of how the newest edition is different from
previous editions." Publishers are also asked to disclose
to faculty the length of time they intend to produce the
current edition and provide faculty free copies of each
textbook selected.
This bill provides for the development of low-cost digital
textbooks for 50 lower division courses, as specified,
across the state's public postsecondary education segments,
subject to state and/or private funding. Specifically,
this bill:
1. Establishes a California Open Education Resources
Council (Council), composed of three faculty members
each from the UC, the CSU, and the CCC, to be appointed
no later than April 1, 2013, and to be administered by
the Intersegmental Committee of the Academic Senates of
the UC, CSU, and CCC.
2. Requires the Council to:
A. Develop a list of 50 lower division courses across
the three segments, as specified, for which
high-quality, affordable digital open source
textbooks and related material shall be developed or
acquired.
B. Create and administer a review and approval
process for open source materials, as specified.
C. Promote strategies for production, access, and use
of open source materials.
D. Solicit student advice and guidance, as specified.
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E. Establish a competitive request for proposal
process whereby faculty, publishers, and other
interested parties may apply for funds to produce, in
2013, 50 open source textbooks and related materials,
meeting specified requirements and be submitted to
the California Open Source Digital Library.
3. Requires open source textbooks to meet specified
accessibility requirements for disabled students.
4. Requires the Council to submit a progress report on
implementing all of the above no later than six months
after this bill becomes operative and a final report by
January 1, 2016.
5. States that all of the above is operative only if
sufficient funding is provided in the Budget Act,
another statute, and/or through federal or private
funds.
Comments
Open Education Resources (OER) are educational materials
such as textbooks, research articles, videos, assessments,
or simulations that are either licensed under an open
copyright license or are in the public domain. OERs
provide no-cost access and no-cost permission to revise,
reuse, remix, or redistribute the materials. According to
a policy brief by the Center for American Progress and
EDUCAUSE, digital OERs offer many advantages over
traditional textbooks: they allow students and faculty to
access textbooks and related materials for free online or
purchase hardcopies that are more affordable than
traditional textbooks; they enable faculty to customize
learning materials to suit their course objectives; and
they can provide students with a more flexible set of tools
that can contribute to a richer learning experience.
Related/Prior Legislation
SB 1053 (Steinberg) is a companion bill to this bill. The
bill establishes the California Digital Open Source
Library, to be jointly administered by the UC, CSU, and the
CCC for the purpose of housing open source materials. The
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bill becomes operative only if the bill is enacted and
establishes the COERC.
SB 48 (Alquist), Chapter 161, Statutes of 2009, required
any individual firm, partnership, or corporation that
offers textbooks for sale at the UC, CSU, the CCC, or a
private postsecondary education institution in California,
to the extent practicable, make them available for sale in
electronic format by January 1, 2020. The bill was passed
by the Senate Education Committee on an 8-0 vote.
AB 1548 (Solorio), Chapter 574, Statutes of 2007,
established the College Textbook Transparency Act requiring
the disclosure of specified information and requiring
faculty to follow specified practices in the sale and
purchase of textbooks. The bill was passed by the Senate
Education Committee on a 9-0 vote.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:
1. Staff will be needed for several years to support the
Council in fulfilling its responsibilities. Assuming at
least one professional and one support position, plus
travel and meeting expenses for Council members, annual
costs of about $200,000 plus around $250,000 in faculty
release time for Council members.
2. Development costs for the 50 open source textbooks are
unknown but will constitute the majority of the
estimated $25 million cost of implementing this bill.
3. To the extent that students were previously purchasing
textbooks for the 50 courses from sales tax-generating
businesses, widespread use of this open source option
will significantly reduce this revenue. There will
likewise be a substantial revenue loss to campus
bookstores, which often support other campus activities.
4. To the extent a significant reduction in textbook costs
for lower division students makes college more
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affordable, some students, particularly at CCC, might be
able to take a greater unit load per semester, thus
reducing the time necessary to complete their education,
to the benefit of the student, the institution, and the
state.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/28/12)
California Association for Postsecondary Education and
Disability
California Community Colleges Board of Governors
California State Student Association
California State University
California Teachers Association
Campaign for College Opportunity
Coast Community College District
Community College League of California
Student Senate for the California Community Colleges
University of California
University of California Student Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
the cost of textbooks represents a significant burden to
students and families. The author's office sites a recent
report by the CSU Chancellor's office that estimates CSU
students pay approximately $1,000 per year for textbooks.
The author's office also notes a finding by the Academic
Senate of the CCC that the cost of educational materials
has become a "visible barrier to college attendance for
many students." The author's office maintains that the old
model of rigid, printed textbooks and related materials can
fall short in providing flexible and dynamic teaching tools
necessary to maximize student success. This bill attempts
to address those costs for the 50 most common lower
division courses by requiring the availability of textbooks
for those courses to be available on reserve at the campus
library and by enabling instructional materials for those
courses to be available through OER.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 63-16, 8/27/12
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
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Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Davis, Dickinson, Eng,
Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani,
Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Hagman, Hall, Hayashi, Roger
Hern�ndez, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Knight,
Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning,
Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel P�rez, Portantino,
Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Wieckowski,
Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NOES: Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Garrick, Grove, Halderman,
Harkey, Jones, Logue, Mansoor, Miller, Morrell, Nielsen,
Norby, Silva, Valadao, Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cook
PQ:k 8/28/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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