By: Hochberg H.B. No. 1539
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to state ownership of school textbooks.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 31.102, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
[(a) Each textbook purchased as provided by this chapter is
the property of this state.
[(b) Subsection (a) applies to an electronic textbook only
to the extent of any applicable licensing agreement.
[(c)] The board of trustees of a school district or the
governing body of an open-enrollment charter school is the legal
custodian of textbooks purchased as provided by this chapter for
the district or school. The board of trustees shall distribute
textbooks to students in the manner that the board or governing body
determines is most effective and economical.
SECTION 2. Section 31.104(c), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) [Each textbook must state that the textbook is the
property of or is licensed to this state, as appropriate. Each
textbook, other than an electronic textbook or a printed copy of an
open-source textbook, must be covered by the student under the
direction of the teacher.] Except as provided by Subsection (g), a
student must return all textbooks to the teacher at the end of the
school year or when the student withdraws from school.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2011.