BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1154
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1154 (Walters)
As Amended August 20, 2012
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :33-0
EDUCATION 11-0 APPROPRIATIONS 16-0
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|Ayes:|Brownley, Norby, Ammiano, |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, |
| |Buchanan, Butler, Carter, | |Blumenfield, Bradford, |
| |Eng, Grove, Halderman, | |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
| |Wagner, Williams | |Davis, Fuentes, Hall, |
| | | |Hill, Cedillo, Mitchell, |
| | | |Nielsen, Norby, Solorio, |
| | | |Wagner |
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SUMMARY : Requires a publisher or manufacturer that offers
equivalent digital formats of printed instructional materials to
offer the digital formats at the same cost as or lower cost
than, the cost of the purchased printed format. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Requires a publisher or manufacturer of printed supplemental
instructional materials to offer the printed supplemental
instructional materials in an equivalent digital format, at
the same cost as or a lower cost than, the cost of the
purchased printed format.
2)Provides that if a publisher or manufacturer cannot obtain
copyright due to a third-party contract conflict, an
equivalent digital format may be substituted with comparable
digital material when adopting instructional materials.
3)Requires instructional material or supplemental instructional
materials to be offered by a publisher or manufacturer as
unbundled elements to enable the digital material or printed
material to be purchased separately from other components.
4)Authorizes a school district to use instructional materials
that were purchased by the district in digital formats to
create a district-wide online digital database for classroom
use consistent with an online security system that is mutually
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agreed on by the publisher and the school district.
5)Exempts small publishers and small manufacturers of
instructional materials from the provisions of this bill and
defines "small publisher" and "small manufacturer" as an
independently owned or operated publisher or manufacturer
that, together with its affiliates, has 100 or fewer employees
and average annual gross receipts of $10 million or less over
the previous three years.
6)Provides that this bill does not authorize the use of
instructional materials that would constitute an infringement
of copyright under the federal Copyright Revision Act of 1976.
7)Requires this bill to be implemented in accordance with the
suspension of the instructional material adoption process
pursuant to current law.
8)States that this bill does not require a publisher or
manufacturer that submits an instructional material in digital
format only to offer or submit an equivalent print version of
the instructional material in digital format.
9)Makes the provisions of this bill contingent on the enactment
of AB 1790 (Hagman) of the 2011-12 Regular Session.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill may result in local school district General
Fund/Proposition 98 savings if districts choose to take
advantage of the "unbundling" provisions in this bill (i.e.,
only buying certain components of instructional material
programs). It is unclear if there will be savings to districts
that choose to predominantly purchase digital instructional
materials instead of materials in the printed format.
COMMENTS : This bill requires a publisher or manufacturer of
adopted instructional materials or supplemental materials to
offer the instructional material in an equivalent digital
format, at the same cost as, or a lower cost than, the cost of
the purchased printed format and stipulates that the materials
may be used by the school district to create a district-wide
online digital database for classroom use. This bill does not
require a school district to purchase materials in a specific
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format, instead it seeks to ensure both formats are available
for purchase, and leaves the decision to the local school
districts.
The proliferation of technology in recent years has not
translated into increased access to technology in schools. 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
but also challenges of ensuring equal access to technology for
all students. Current law requires all schools to provide each
pupil, including English learners with a standards-aligned
textbook or instructional materials, or both, to use in class
and to take home and allows the materials to be in a digital
format as long as pupils in the same class or course have access
to the same materials at school and at home. The intent is to
ensure that all pupils have adequate and equal access to
instructional materials even if a school or district chooses to
adopt digital instructional materials.
Even though current law does not require publishers to submit
materials in electronic formats, several publishers have already
been doing so. A 2007 study of previous State Board of
Education (SBE) adoptions showed that publishers were beginning
to make electronic editions of their materials available as an
alternate format to their print textbooks. At this time, it
appears that the issue is not the lack of availability of such
materials but rather the resources available to ensure all
students have access to such materials. However, an argument
can be made that requiring all basic and supplemental
instructional materials to be made available in digital formats
may give school districts more digital options to select from.
Unbundled components: This bill requires instructional
materials or supplemental instructional materials to be offered
as unbundled elements to enable materials to be purchased
separately from other components. School districts have argued
that oftentimes the options for kindergarten and grades 1-8,
inclusive (K-8) instructional materials come in bundled
programs, which in some cases results in very high prices of
instructional materials. Some districts do not always use or
need all of the elements in the bundled program, yet they have
to purchase the entire package. According to the CDE, materials
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are already unbundled as publishers are able to sell any part of
their program and do so already. To the extent, unbundling is
already existing practice; this bill codifies that practice and
requires materials to be offered as unbundled elements.
Costs: While some may argue that digital/electronic versions of
instructional materials are less costly, others would argue that
taking into account the technical support that may be necessary
to ensure that the pupil can access that material, and to
troubleshoot any technical problems that may arise do not
necessarily lead to less costs. Additionally, an argument has
been made by publishers that "the savings of paper and ink are
outweighed by the costs of programmers, digital artists,
servers, website costs, and major expenses for maintenance of
sites and access."
This bill was previously in conflict with AB 1790 (Hagman). The
author of this bill and the author of AB 1790 agreed to a set of
amendments that resolve the conflicts and make the two bills
complementary and contingent upon the enactment of each other.
This bill as amended in the Assembly Education Committee
reflects those amendments. AB 1790 is pending on the Senate
Floor and at the time of this writing has not been amended.
Author's statement: "The digitization of education is sweeping
through America, as more school districts are implementing
technology and seeing remarkable results. Florida, Maine,
Washington, Utah, and Alabama have all passed measures to make
digital textbooks a reality in public schools. Yet, it is a
widespread disappointment that Californian schools are not fully
grasping the technological opportunities."
Related legislation: AB 1790 (Hagman), requires a publisher or
manufacturer submitting instructional materials for adoption by
the SBE or the governing board of a school district to ensure
that the instructional materials are available in both print and
digital formats, during the entire term of the adoption. AB
1790 is pending on the Senate Floor.
AB 1246 (Brownley), revises the process for reviewing and
adopting instructional materials for use in K-8 and authorizes
the adoption of common core standards aligned instructional
materials in mathematics by March 30, 2014. AB 1246 is pending
on the Senate Floor.
SB 1154
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Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Avi�a / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0005105