[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 136 (Thursday, September 24, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9850-S9851]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DURBIN:
  S. 1714. A bill to authorize grants for the creation, update, or 
adaption of open textbooks, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, technology has transformed the way we 
work, the way we entertain ourselves, and the way we understand the 
world around us. But one area of our lives that has been more resistant 
to technological change has been the way we educate our children. And 
yet I see tremendous potential in technology to improve access to 
education and decrease its often high costs. One example of this is 
open educational resources. Today, I am introducing a bill that will 
provide a short-term federal investment in the development of one type 
of open educational resource--college textbooks. I believe this 
investment will improve learning in our college classrooms and help 
bring down the cost of college for students.
  The growth of the Internet has enabled the creation and sharing of 
open content. A teacher or professor in Illinois can create a lecture, 
a lesson, a book, or an entire curriculum and share it online. A 
teacher across the country or even across the world can access that 
educational material, adapt it, and use it in his or her classroom. 
More and more often educators are utilizing technology in this way to 
improve student learning.
  The President recognizes the potential of this new technology. He has 
proposed a significant new Federal investment in the creation of online 
open-source courses for community colleges. These courses will be made 
freely available online and widely distributed so that all colleges can 
make use of them. I believe this initiative will help make higher 
education more accessible for students, especially non-traditional 
students or students living in rural areas far away from brick-and-
mortar institutions. Because the courses will be available for free, 
the initiative will also help bring down the high cost of a college 
education for students struggling to pay.
  I think we can go even further. The high cost of textbooks continues 
to be a barrier for many students struggling to pay for college. The 
College Board reported that for the 2007 to 2008 school year, students 
spent an estimated $805 to $1,229 on books and supplies. A little over 
a year ago, the Higher Education Opportunity Act was signed into law. 
That law includes provisions that I authored to increase transparency 
in college textbook pricing for professors and students. I hope that 
new law will help decrease the high cost of textbooks when these 
provisions are enacted next year, but there is more that the Federal 
Government can do to provide cheap alternatives to professors and 
students.
  The bill I am introducing today, the Open College Textbook Act, will 
create a grant program for the creation of freely-available, online 
open college textbooks. Making high-quality open textbooks freely 
available to the general public would significantly lower college 
textbook costs. Under my bill, the Secretary of Education would award 
grants to colleges, professors, nonprofit organizations or for-profit 
companies to create introductory-level college textbooks. Once 
produced, these books would be posted on an easily-accessible website 
and made available to students, professors, and the public for free. 
The result would be a set of high-quality college textbooks that could 
be adopted in any introductory course at any college in the country. 
This would be a limited investment of Federal grant funding over just a 
few years, not a permanent federal funding stream. The choice would 
ultimately still be the professor's. Each professor could choose 
whether to assign the open textbook to his class, but I hope that he 
would seriously consider this high-quality, free online option that 
would save his students $150 or $200 each at the college bookstore.
  Along with the clear cost benefits, open textbooks can also improve 
teaching and learning. The content of an open textbook can be adapted, 
supplemented, and personalized by professors for their course. Instead 
of framing a course around a textbook, a professor can modify an open 
textbook to fit the needs of a particular course or group of students. 
When professors take advantage of the flexibility and adaptability of 
open textbooks, student learning improves.
  The use of Federal funding for textbooks and curricula is not new. 
For years, the National Science Foundation has been awarding grants to 
professors for research into the improvement of learning in the 
classroom. Sometimes these grants have resulted in the creation of 
textbooks, which the author can then license for profit to a commercial 
publisher. I believe textbooks created with Federal funding should be 
made available for free so that all students and professors can benefit 
from our investment. This bill would also require that all future 
Federal grants that lead to the creation of a textbook or curriculum 
for use in the classroom be licensed openly and made freely available 
to all educators for their use.
  Over the past decade, I have watched textbook publishers use 
technology to drive up the cost of textbooks through unnecessary online 
supplements and CD-ROMs. It is time that we use the potential of 
technology to improve college access, learning, and affordability for 
all students. I believe the Open College Textbook Act that I am 
introducing today will accomplish that goal.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 1714

       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

[[Page S9851]]

     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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