Current Status Introducing Body:House Bill Number:4764 Primary Sponsor:Meacham Committee Number:21 Type of Legislation:GB Subject:Textbook Reform Act of 1992 Residing Body:House Computer Document Number:DKA/3837.AL Introduced Date:Apr 16, 1992 Last History Body:House Last History Date:Apr 16, 1992 Last History Type:Introduced, read first time, referred to Committee Scope of Legislation:Statewide All Sponsors:Meacham Inabinett H. Brown Hallman Rama McKay Smith D. Elliott Stone Byrd G. Bailey Neilson Harvin Kinon Wright Klapman Riser Wofford Koon Vaughn Taylor A. Young Cato Quinn Wilkins Harwell J. Bailey Littlejohn Lanford McCraw G. Brown Fair Type of Legislation:General Bill
Bill Body Date Action Description CMN
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4764 House Apr 16, 1992 Introduced, read first time, 21
referred to Committee
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TO ENACT THE TEXTBOOK REFORM ACT OF 1992; TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 59-5-66 SO AS TO REQUIRE THE TEXTBOOK SELECTION COMMITTEE TO BE COMPOSED OF A MAJORITY OF LAY PERSONS WITH EXPERTISE IN THE AREA CONSIDERED; SECTION 59-31-35 SO AS TO EXPAND TEXTBOOK SELECTION CRITERIA; SECTION 59-31-45 SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR PUBLIC REVIEW AND COMMENTS FOR PROPOSED TEXTBOOKS AND INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS; AND SECTION 59-31-555 SO AS TO REQUIRE PUBLISHERS TO PROVIDE A CERTIFICATE OF ACCURACY FOR MATERIALS.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. This act is known as the Textbook Reform Act of 1992.
SECTION 2. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 59-5-66. The State Board of Education shall appoint a Textbook Advisory Committee for each area of study in which textbooks or instructional materials are considered. The board shall promulgate regulations pertaining to the membership of the committee and guidelines for the committee. In promulgating regulations, the board shall require that eighty percent of the persons appointed to the committee must be lay people with expertise in the area under consideration."
SECTION 3. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 59-31-35. The State Board of Education shall develop criteria for the appraisal of textbooks offered for sale in the State. The criteria to be used by the Textbook Advisory Committee must include provisions to give the highest weight and priority, in choosing books, to the accuracy of the facts presented in the material. The Department of Education shall work closely with the committee to ensure that high quality, accurate books are recommended to the board."
SECTION 4. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 59-31-45. Copies of proposed textbooks approved by the Textbook Advisory Committee must be made available to the public for review in each school district at least sixty days before the date of the state board meeting at which adoption of the textbook is to be discussed. The department must provide notice to the public of the availability of the textbooks and the date of the scheduled meeting in a newspaper of general circulation in each school district at the time the textbooks are made available for review."
SECTION 5. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 59-31-555. Before a textbook publisher submits materials to the State Board of Education for review, it must submit a certificate of accuracy guaranteeing that the book is error-free. In the event factual errors are found in any published materials, the publisher is required to correct the error before entering into a contract with the State to purchase the textbook or instructional material. A publisher that fails to correct factual errors in materials purchased by the State is subject to an administrative penalty of one hundred thousand dollars or more. A publisher who continues to deliver materials with factual errors is prohibited from submitting and selling textbooks or instructional materials in this State for two years."
SECTION 6. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.