H 4761 General Bill, By Fair
 A Bill to amend Title 59, Chapter 31, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976,
 relating to textbooks by adding Article 7 so as to create the Textbook
 Excellence Act.

   04/16/92  House  Introduced and read first time HJ-7
   04/16/92  House  Referred to Committee on Education and Public
                     Works HJ-7

A BILL

TO AMEND TITLE 59, CHAPTER 31, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO TEXTBOOKS BY ADDING ARTICLE 7 SO AS TO CREATE THE TEXTBOOK EXCELLENCE ACT.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Chapter 31, Title 59 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Article 7

Section 59-31-710. This article may be cited as the Textbook Excellence Act.

Section 59-31-720. (A) The committees established by the State Board of Education and the Department of Education for the selection and adoption of textbooks must include members of the community (lay persons) with expertise in the area of study under consideration. Lay persons must compose at least eighty percent of the committee with emphasis on members representing the business community. No active classroom teachers may be appointed to the committee. A teacher appointed to the committee must be retired.

(B) No person may be appointed to the committee who is employed by, directly or indirectly receives money from a textbook publishing company, or who was an employee of a textbook publishing committee within five years of his appointment. An employee of the department who, during the past five years, was employed by a textbook publishing company may not participate in the selection process for textbooks or other instructional materials.

Section 59-31-730. Criteria for selecting and evaluating textbooks and other instructional materials currently adopted by the State Board of Education by regulation must be expanded to include the following:

(1) factual accuracy of the text or materials;

(2) compliance with state requirements for the subject matter;

(3) support for the free enterprize system and a demonstration of the benefits of free enterprise in the United States;

(4) clarity of expression of the benefits of representative democracy, individual liberty, personal responsibility, economic and political freedom and other traditional values and principles of Western civilization and American society espoused in the United States Declaration of Independence and embodied in the United States Constitution.

Section 59-31-740. Material submitted for review by the committee must be made available to the public for review and comments before final approval is made by the State Board of Education. The materials must be made available at least sixty days before final approval. The board must publish a notice to the public of the availability of the proposed materials and the comment period in a newspaper of general circulation within the school district.

Section 59-31-750. Employees of the department responsible for the oversight of the textbook selection process must have a current teaching certificate in the area for which they are responsible.

Section 59-31-760. A publisher submitting textbooks or other instructional materials for consideration by the committee shall sign a certificate of accuracy guaranteeing that the materials submitted are free of significant factual errors. A publisher who fails to fulfill the guarantee is subject to administrative action including fines of one hundred thousand dollars or more or may be suspended from submitting materials for review for at least two years, or both."

SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.