[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4951 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4951

 To provide for the purchase of textbooks and the establishment of the 
          Textbook Recycling Program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 17, 2002

  Mr. Nadler introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for the purchase of textbooks and the establishment of the 
          Textbook Recycling Program, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Building Opportunities for Our Kids 
Act''.

SEC. 2. PURCHASE OF TEXTBOOKS.

    Section 1002 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 6302) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(j) Purchasing Textbooks.--For the purpose of purchasing 
textbooks under part A for use by schools that are eligible to receive 
funds under section 1114, there are authorized to be appropriated (in 
addition to amounts authorized to be appropriated for such purpose 
under subsection (a)) $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2003 
through 2007.''.

SEC. 3. TEXTBOOK RECYCLING PROGRAM.

    (a) Authorization.--The Secretary of Education shall establish a 
program, to be known as the ``Textbook Recycling Program'', to 
facilitate the donation of textbooks by any local educational agency to 
any other local educational agency for use by schools that are eligible 
to receive funds under section 1114 of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6314).
    (b) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term ``local 
educational agency'' has the meaning given to that term in section 9101 
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).

SEC. 4. STUDY ON CONDITION OF TEXTBOOKS.

    (a) Study.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit 
to the Congress and the Secretary of Education a report on the 
condition of textbooks used in public elementary schools and public 
secondary schools, including the following:
            (1) The range in age and the average age of textbooks used.
            (2) The average number of years of use of a textbook, 
        including such number for each of the subjects of mathematics, 
        reading, social studies, and science.
            (3) The number and percentage of teachers who report using 
        textbooks that are--
                    (A) more than 10 years old; and
                    (B) more than 15 years old.
            (4) The number and percentage of classrooms that have fewer 
        textbooks than students.
            (5) The number and percentage of teachers who report using 
        their own money to buy textbooks.
            (6) The number and percentage of teachers who report that 
        the textbooks they use are inadequate in addressing the 
        curricula and requirements mandated by State educational 
        standards.
            (7) The amount that each State provides for textbooks for 
        each student in public elementary school or public secondary 
        school.
            (8) The number and percentage of public elementary schools 
        and public secondary schools that require parents to pay the 
        full or partial cost of their children's textbooks.
    (b) Disaggregation.--For purposes of the report required under this 
section, the Comptroller General of the United States shall 
disaggregate the data described in subsection (a) for public elementary 
schools and public secondary schools that are eligible to receive funds 
under section 1114 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (20 
U.S.C. 6314) as compared to public elementary schools and public 
secondary schools that are not eligible to receive such funds.
    (c) Definitions.--In this section, the terms ``elementary school'' 
and ``secondary school'' have the meanings given to those terms in 
section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 7801).
                                 <all>