Current Status Bill Number:542 Ratification Number:199 Act Number:140 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:Senate Introduced Date:19970318 Primary Sponsor:Fair All Sponsors:Fair and Setzler Drafted Document Number:gjk\20364sd.97 Date Bill Passed both Bodies:19970605 Date of Last Amendment:19970528 Governor's Action:S Date of Governor's Action:19970611 Subject:Textbooks, Schools and School Districts, Education, Board; adoption standards, contracts, selection procedure
Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved
______ ________ _______________________________________ _______ ____________
------ 19970714 Act No. A140
------ 19970611 Signed by Governor
------ 19970609 Ratified R199
Senate 19970605 Concurred in House amendment,
enrolled for ratification
House 19970529 Read third time, returned to Senate
with amendment
House 19970528 Amended, read second time
House 19970528 Request for debate by Representative Scott
Howard
Cobb-Hunter
Neal
Littlejohn
Breeland
Walker
Easterday
Hamilton
Townsend
Loftis
Mack
R. Smith
Stuart
Leach
Sharpe
House 19970522 Committee report: Favorable with 21 HEPW
amendment
House 19970501 Introduced, read first time, 21 HEPW
referred to Committee
Senate 19970430 Amended, read third time,
sent to House
Senate 19970422 Read second time, ordered to
third reading with notice of
general amendments
Senate 19970422 Committee amendment adopted
Senate 19970417 Committee report: Favorable with 04 SED
amendment
Senate 19970318 Introduced, read first time, 04 SED
referred to Committee
View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.
(A140, R199, S542)
AN ACT TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 59-31-45 SO AS TO ESTABLISH A PROCEDURE FOR THE SELECTION OF SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS; TO AMEND SECTION 59-31-40, RELATING TO ADOPTION OF NEW TEXTBOOKS BY THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION, SO AS TO REQUIRE TEXTBOOK CONTRACTS TO HAVE PROVISIONS MANDATING THAT TEXTBOOKS AND OTHER INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS BE FREE OF CERTAIN ERRORS; TO ADD SECTION 59-31-70 SO AS TO FURTHER PROVIDE FOR THE MANNER IN WHICH A SCHOOL DISTRICT MAY PURCHASE SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS; TO ADD SECTION 59-31-75 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT A PUBLIC SCHOOL MAY NOT BEGIN A COURSE IF STATE-APPROVED TEXTBOOKS ARE NOT AVAILABLE ON THE FIRST DAY OF CLASS AND TO PROVIDE EXCEPTIONS; TO AMEND SECTION 59-31-510, RELATING TO CONTRACTS WITH PUBLISHERS FOR THE RENTAL OR PURCHASE OF TEXTBOOKS, SO AS TO FURTHER PROVIDE FOR THESE CONTRACTS AND THE MANNER IN WHICH THESE TEXTBOOKS MAY BE PURCHASED, RENTED, AND USED; TO AMEND SECTION 59-31-600, RELATING TO STANDARDS FOR TEXTBOOK ADOPTIONS, SO AS TO FURTHER PROVIDE FOR THESE STANDARDS AND THE PROCEDURES FOR ADOPTING TEXTBOOKS; AND TO ADD SECTION 59-31-610 SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR PUBLIC REVIEWS AND PUBLIC HEARINGS REGARDING TEXTBOOKS AND INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
Selection of textbooks
SECTION 1. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 59-31-45. (A) In addition to any other method of textbook selection, the State Board of Education shall add to the approved list of textbooks for use in the public schools of this State any textbook or series of textbooks which have been reviewed and not adopted by the state board if the textbook or series is requested in writing by the boards of trustees of five or more school districts or by the boards of trustees of two or more school districts with a combined population of twenty-five thousand or more students. Local school districts shall establish procedures under which principals and teachers of the district may transmit textbook requests as permitted by this section.
(B) The number of requests required to be received above shall be as received during any three hundred sixty-five day period. A textbook so required to be added to the approved list shall be added within thirty days following the receipt by the state board of the requisite number of requests, provided that the publishers whose textbooks are to be added to the approved list as provided in this section comply with the same provisions regarding textbooks as other publishers including, but not limited to, price, durability, and availability. No designation shall be included upon the approved list which indicates the manner in which any textbook was added to the list."
Textbooks to be error free
SECTION 2. Section 59-31-40 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 59-31-40. The meetings of the State Board of Education in any year at which an adoption is made must be public. New textbooks adopted by the State Board of Education in any year must not be used in the free public schools of this State until the next school session begins. Each contract between the State Board of Education and a publisher of textbooks and instructional materials or vendor of instructional technology must require that all textbooks or other instructional material rented or purchased by the State be free of any clear, substantive, factual, or grammatical error. The contract also must allow the State Board of Education to require reasonable remedies if an error is found."
Purchase of textbooks
SECTION 3. Article 1, Chapter 31, Title 59 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 59-31-70. A school district may purchase school textbooks approved by the Board of Education for instructional use directly from a publisher under contract with the state board when needed for instruction by the school district if the textbooks are not available from the State Department of Education. In this event, the district shall be reimbursed from state school textbook funds of the Department of Education when these textbook funds become available, in accordance with any agreement between the school district and the department."
Textbooks required
SECTION 4. Article 1, Chapter 31, Title 59 of the 1976 Code is further amended by adding:
"Section 59-31-75. A public school may not begin a course if state-approved textbooks or other course material is not available on the first day of class or if the delivery date is after the first two weeks of classes unless the board of trustees determines that the class should be offered."
Contracted provisions
SECTION 5. Section 59-31-510 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 59-31-510. The State Board of Education may negotiate and execute contracts with the publishers of textbooks and instructional materials and vendors of instructional technology that allow the State to rent from the publishers or buy outright the books to be used in the public schools, with discretion in the State Board of Education to make rental contracts or purchase contracts as may be to the best advantage of the State. A contract made with a publisher of textbooks may be made so as to divide the payment to the publisher for rental or purchase over a period of three years, but it must not be construed to prevent the State Board of Education from purchasing or renting additional books as necessary. If the State Board of Education decides to purchase outright the books to be used in the schools of this State, they must be purchased at the lowest possible prices and, so far as existing contracts for state-adopted books shall permit, pursuant to competitive bidding."
Textbook adoptions
SECTION 6. Section 59-31-600 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 59-31-600. When the State Board of Education determines that a textbook or instructional material adoption is needed in a specific field, the board shall direct evaluating and rating committees to assess the textbook or instructional material for the development of higher-order thinking skills and problem solving. Each evaluation and rating committee may have up to twenty-five percent lay membership. A majority of those appointed to the committee must be full-time classroom teachers. In addition to monitoring the accuracy of facts and grammar, the committee shall include in its rating and evaluating criteria, where applicable, satisfaction of state mandates for graduation criteria and support for the benefits of the American economic and political system. The results of each evaluating and rating committee's assessment must be included in its written report to the State Board of Education. Where otherwise satisfactory, the evaluating and rating committee shall recommend and the State Board of Education shall adopt textbooks and other instructional materials which develop higher-order thinking skills."
Public review and hearings
SECTION 7. Article 5, Chapter 31, Title 59 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 59-31-610. The State Superintendent of Education shall make arrangements for a thirty-day public review of materials recommended by the instructional materials review panels prior to taking those recommendations to the State Board of Education. The public review sites must be geographically distributed around the State at as many state-supported colleges and universities or, if necessary, other designated sites as may agree to host the reviews. Public review sites shall be advertised in each congressional district in the newspaper with the largest circulation figures for that district.
The state board shall hold a public hearing before adopting any textbook or instructional material for use in the schools of this State."
Time effective
SECTION 8. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
Approved the 11th day of June, 1997.