| 1 | 1 | | 81R9774 CAS-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Naishtat H.B. No. 4553 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to special textbooks for the education of blind and |
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| 8 | 8 | | visually impaired students in public schools. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Section 31.028, Education Code, is amended by |
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| 11 | 11 | | amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c-1) to read as |
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| 12 | 12 | | follows: |
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| 13 | 13 | | (b) The publisher of an adopted textbook shall provide the |
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| 14 | 14 | | agency with computerized textbook files for the production of |
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| 15 | 15 | | Braille textbooks or other versions of textbooks to be used by |
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| 16 | 16 | | students with disabilities, on request of the State Board of |
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| 17 | 17 | | Education. A publisher shall arrange computerized textbook files: |
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| 18 | 18 | | (1) for the production of Braille mathematics or |
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| 19 | 19 | | science textbooks in LaTeX or Mathematical Markup Language (MathML) |
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| 20 | 20 | | format unless the board specifies a more recent format; and |
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| 21 | 21 | | (2) for the production of other versions of textbooks |
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| 22 | 22 | | to be used by students with disabilities in one of several optional |
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| 23 | 23 | | formats specified by the board [State Board of Education]. |
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| 24 | 24 | | (c-1) The State Board of Education shall encourage school |
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| 25 | 25 | | districts and regional education service centers to assist persons |
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| 26 | 26 | | in developing or improving skills in transcribing textbooks into |
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| 27 | 27 | | Braille, including offering incentives to those persons. |
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| 28 | 28 | | SECTION 2. Section 31.028(b), Education Code, as amended by |
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| 29 | 29 | | this Act, applies to any computerized textbook files for the |
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| 30 | 30 | | production of Braille mathematics or science textbooks provided by |
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| 31 | 31 | | a textbook publisher on or after September 1, 2009. |
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| 32 | 32 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 33 | 33 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 34 | 34 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 35 | 35 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 36 | 36 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |
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