[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1714 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1714

   To authorize grants for the creation, update, or adaption of open 
                   textbooks, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 24, 2009

  Mr. Durbin introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To authorize grants for the creation, update, or adaption of open 
                   textbooks, 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 ``Open College Textbook Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The growth of the Internet has enabled the creation and 
        sharing of open content, including open educational resources.
            (2) The President has proposed a new, significant Federal 
        investment in the creation of online open-source courses for 
        community colleges that will make learning more accessible, 
        adaptable, and affordable for students.
            (3) The President has challenged the United States with a 
        goal of having the highest college graduation rate in the world 
        by 2020.
            (4) More than 80 percent of the 23,000,000 jobs that will 
        be created in the next 10 years will require postsecondary 
        education, but only 36 percent of all 18- to 24-year-olds are 
        currently enrolled in postsecondary education.
            (5) The high cost of college textbooks continues to be a 
        barrier for many students in achieving higher education, and 
        according to the Advisory Committee on Student Financial 
        Assistance, 200,000 qualified students fail to enroll in 
        college each year due to cost.
            (6) The College Board reported that for the 2007-2008 
        academic year an average student spent an estimated $805 to 
        $1,229 on college books and supplies.
            (7) Making high quality open textbooks freely available to 
        the general public could significantly lower college textbook 
        costs and increase accessibility to such education materials.
            (8) Open textbooks can improve learning and teaching by 
        creating course materials that are more flexible, adaptable, 
        and accessible through the use of technology.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
        the National Science Foundation.
            (2) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1001).
            (3) Open license.--The term ``open license'' means an 
        irrevocable intellectual property license that grants the 
        public the right to access, customize, and distribute a 
        copyrighted material.
            (4) Open textbook.--The term ``open textbook'' means a 
        textbook or set of course materials in electronic format 
        designed for use in a college course at an institution of 
        higher education that is licensed under an open license.
            (5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Education.

SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Grants Authorized.--From the amounts appropriated under 
subsection (i), the Secretary is authorized to award grants, on a 
competitive basis, to eligible entities to carry out the activities 
described in this section, including creating, updating, or adapting 
open textbooks. The Secretary shall award grants in a manner that will 
result in the creation of a comprehensive slate of high quality course 
materials for introductory courses in a variety of subject areas.
    (b) Eligible Entity.--In this section, the term ``eligible entity'' 
means--
            (1) an institution of higher education;
            (2) a professor or group of professors at an institution of 
        higher education; or
            (3) a nonprofit or for-profit organization that produces 
        open textbooks.
    (c) Duration.--Grants awarded under this section shall be 1 year in 
duration.
    (d) Applications.--
            (1) In general.--Each eligible entity desiring a grant 
        under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary 
        at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such 
        information as the Secretary may reasonably require.
            (2) Contents.--Each application submitted under paragraph 
        (1) shall include a description of the project to be completed 
        with grant funds and--
                    (A) a plan for quality review and review of 
                accuracy of content;
                    (B) a plan for access to ensure the widest possible 
                availability of the digital version of the open 
                textbook;
                    (C) a plan for distribution and adoption of the 
                open textbook to ensure the widest possible adoption of 
                the open textbook in postsecondary courses, including, 
                where applicable, a marketing plan or a plan to partner 
                with for-profit or nonprofit organizations to assist in 
                marketing and distribution; and
                    (D) a plan for tracking and reporting formal 
                adoptions of the open textbook within postsecondary 
                institutions, including an estimate of the number of 
                students impacted by the adoptions.
    (e) Special Consideration.--In awarding grants under this section, 
the Secretary shall give special consideration to applications that 
demonstrate the greatest potential to produce--
            (1) the highest quality and most marketable open textbooks;
            (2) open textbooks that correspond to the highest 
        enrollment courses at institutions of higher education;
            (3) open textbooks that are easily utilized by faculty 
        members at institutions of higher education; and
            (4) open textbooks created in partnership with for-profit 
        or nonprofit organizations to assist in marketing and 
        distribution.
    (f) Uses of Grants.--
            (1) Open textbooks.--An eligible entity that receives a 
        grant under this section shall--
                    (A) create a new open textbook for use in 
                postsecondary coursework;
                    (B) update an open textbook for use in 
                postsecondary coursework; or
                    (C) adapt a textbook into an open format for use in 
                postsecondary coursework.
            (2) License.--An open textbook created, updated, or adapted 
        under paragraph (1) shall be licensed through an open license.
            (3) Accessibility.--The full and complete digital content 
        of each open textbook created, updated, or adapted under 
        paragraph (1) shall be--
                    (A) posted on an easily accessible and 
                interoperable website, which site shall be identified 
                to the Secretary by the eligible entity; and
                    (B) made available free of charge to, and may be 
                downloaded, redistributed, changed, revised, or 
                otherwise altered by, any member of the general public.
    (g) Review Process.--The Secretary shall develop a peer review and 
evaluation process in consultation with the Director to ensure that 
open textbooks created, updated, or adapted under this section are of 
the highest quality, accurate in content, and meet or exceed market 
quality and accessibility standards.
    (h) Report.--Upon an eligible entity's completion of a project 
supported under this section, the eligible entity shall prepare and 
submit a report to the Secretary regarding all project costs, including 
the value of any volunteer labor and institutional capital used for the 
project.
    (i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated $15,000,000 to carry out this section for fiscal year 2010 
and such sums as are necessary for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal 
years.

SEC. 5. LICENSING MATERIALS WITH A FEDERAL CONNECTION.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
educational materials such as curricula and textbooks created through 
grants distributed by Federal agencies, including the National Science 
Foundation, for use in elementary, secondary, or postsecondary courses 
shall be licensed under an open license.
    (b) Accessibility.--The full and complete digital content of each 
of the materials created as described in subsection (a) shall be--
            (1) posted on an easily accessible and interoperable 
        website, which site shall be identified to the Secretary by the 
        grant recipient; and
            (2) made available free of charge to, and may be 
        downloaded, redistributed, changed, revised, or otherwise 
        altered by, any member of the general public.

SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that institutions of higher education 
should encourage the consideration of open textbooks by professors 
within the generally accepted principles of academic freedom that 
established the right and responsibility of faculty members, 
individually and collectively, to select course materials that are 
pedagogically most appropriate for their classes.

SEC. 7. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    Not later than September 30, 2015, the Secretary shall prepare and 
submit a report to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Education and Labor of the 
House of Representatives detailing--
            (1) the open textbooks created, updated, or adapted under 
        this Act;
            (2) the adoption of such open textbooks; and
            (3) the savings generated for students, States, and the 
        Federal Government though the use of open textbooks.
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