“Open Source” Textbooks Are Reason for Grave Concern
By Geraldine “Tincy” Miller, SBOE Dist. 12
The week before Thanksgiving, the State Board of Education (SBOE) met for its November meeting and a number of issues were covered that were of great importance. Many of these issues are nearing critical decision points which are scheduled for our upcoming January & March SBOE Meetings. The Board voted to …
- Allow students to take two more P.E. credits (or substitutes) to count toward graduation requirements;
- Eliminate the requirement that students take a health & technology applications class;
- Reduce the number of physical education credits required from 1.5 to one credit;
- Approve the Reading Language Arts textbooks that will be in schools next year;
- Revise its ethics policy, requiring its members to disclose an existing or prior relationship with businesses in which the Permanent School Fund (PSF) is invested, or that may provide future investment advice to the Board; and
- Allow board members an opportunity to dispute any written disclosure from a vendor.
Of all the items we addressed, however, one stands out as an issue that could dramatically affect the quality of materials your students receive in school, while weakening the duties of the Board, and that is open source textbooks.
Read it all at TexasInsider.org
