Senate Lawmakers Adamant on Electronic Textbooks & Commissioners List&"

Education Committee Seeks Legislative Public Input During Agency Rule-Making AUSTIN (Texas) Officials from the Texas Education Agency were instructed to solicit public input & review from the appropriate legislative oversight committees before finalizing rules for the Commissioners List" of approved electronic instructional materials during a meeting of the Senate Education Committee earlier this week.   At Mondays Senate Education Committee hearing lawmakers were adamant that the Legislature and the public should be involved in the rule-making process for the introduction of electronic textbooks into Texas classrooms. The Senate Committee held an interim hearing on Monday to monitor the implementation of legislation passed and signed into law during the 81st Legislature including House Bill 4294.  The implementation of HB 4294 which relates to textbooks and the use of technology in Texas classrooms was the first order of business on the hearing agenda.  An electronic textbook and technology equipment measure HB 4294 requires the Texas Commissioner of Education to adopt a list of electronic textbooks and instructional materials for Texas classrooms.  This list known as the Commissioners List" will include only instructional materials in electronic (digital) format.  Once the list is approved school districts will then be allowed to select electronic textbooks and instructional materials on this list for use in their classroom. Committee Chair Florence Shapiro R-Plano and other committee members sought additional input in the rule-making process and also recommended public participation.  I want maximum public input into the rules" said Sen. Royce West D-Dallas. Senator Wendy Davis D-Fort Worth added that she wants to see all of the public comments on the rules.  Committee Chairwoman Florence Shapiro R-Plano agreed and said that she will bring everyone back together in a month to look at the public comment on the rules."  Anita Givens Associate Commissioner for Standards and Programs for the Texas Education Agency (TEA) testified at length about the status of the implementation of HB 4294.  The rules are currently in draft form and Givens said she hopes to have the rules finalized in April after a 30 day review process on the rules. During her testimony Givens stated that the Commissioners List is only about electronic content" and publishers are currently being asked to submit bids for electronic content.  These electronic materials must meet Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills and are held to the same standards as textbooks and other traditional instructional materials. The TEA is scheduled to adopt the Commissioners List of approved electronic materials to meet Proclamations 2010 and 2011 on March 2 2010.  Sen. Shapiro asked Givens if the TEA had done any evaluation of schools in terms of readiness for electronic content.  Givens replied that theyre in the process of doing a survey the results of which should be known by May. Givens admitted that there are a lot of unanswered questions at this point. Committee members emphasized that Texas classrooms are in the midst of transitioning to technology with classrooms spanning wide distances along the transition spectrum.  Technology readiness including teacher training and the presence of the technology equipment needed to deliver the electronic content varies widely classroom-to-classroom.