Texas Dem candidate: State write and pub textbooks - schools as labs to improve teaching methods

Houston Chronicle ^ | May 14, 2002, 8:51PM | R.G. RATCLIFFE,Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau

[Cincinatus' Wife]

AUSTIN -- Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tony Sanchez waded into one of the most contentious areas of public education Tuesday with a proposal that the state become a co-investor in the writing and publishing of public school textbooks and multimedia learning tools.

The content of the state's public school textbooks frequently has been a battleground for liberals, conservatives and textbook publishers as they fight to get already-published materials approved by the State Board of Education for use in Texas schools.

The Sanchez proposal could push that fight into the very writing of the textbooks.

Sanchez unveiled the plan while fleshing out his education proposals, which include raising teacher pay to the national average and establishing laboratory schools connected to the state's universities to discover improved teaching methods. He had no price tag for those proposals.

Sanchez said he also would allow greater flexibility in the timing of student assessment tests.

"The education of our children is something we must get right, but to do so we must renew our commitment to our children, rethink how we fulfill this commitment and reimagine the relationship between state, student and school," Sanchez said.

Sanchez is challenging Republican Gov. Rick Perry.

Perry has been touring the state saying education reforms made by President Bush when he was governor are on the right track. Perry also has focused on pre-kindergarten education, reducing high school dropout rates and improving math and science programs.

Perry spokesman Ray Sullivan said the Sanchez plan would be a $5 billion "budget buster." But Sanchez said the plan would be implemented over a number of years.

Sanchez said the state could save a portion of the $500 million a year it spends on textbooks through a new program that Sanchez calls the "Texas Scholars Program" to use state scholars to create "multimedia textbooks that will become the textbooks of the future."

But the name of Sanchez's program could cause confusion. The Texas Legislature already has created a "Texas Scholars" program, run in connection with the Texas Business and Education Coalition. It helps provide 60,000 financially needy high school students with grants for college tuition and fees.

Under the Sanchez version of Texas Scholars, state academics would be given stipends to write textbooks or create multimedia material. They would give their intellectual property rights to Texas schools for free but would be able to make a profit selling the material to other states.

"By taking advantage of the state's intellectual capital, Texas scholars can produce and frequently update these new learning tools for free use in Texas," Sanchez said.

But in a discussion with reporters, Sanchez was vague about how the scholars would be chosen to avoid individuals who would politicize their materials.

"We're going to have peer reviews often," he said. "I don't think you're simply going to accept a scholar's recommendations and then move on."

He said the scholars would come from both the private sector and public universities and likely would be chosen from applications filed with the state's universities.

Sanchez said the State Board of Education still would have a role in textbook approval.

The most recent textbook controversy occurred at the board last November when 10 Republicans outvoted five Democrats to reject an environmental science textbook on the grounds that it urged restrictions on business to protect the environment.

A University of Texas ecology professor testified that the book was sound science, but conservatives said its views were "un-American."

The book eventually was approved after the publisher agreed to make changes in the text.

Sanchez said he also wants to move to more multimedia educational tools to fit some children's learning styles.

"Some function fine with the traditional approach of teachers teaching from textbooks," he said. "Others learn best from the spoken word or from video, and all are served by interactivity."

[Cincinatus' Wife]

"Some function fine with the traditional approach of teachers teaching from textbooks," he said.
"Others learn best from the spoken word or from video, and all are served by interactivity."

How about teaching everyone to READ!

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Who picks the textbooks? [California legislator says Teachers Unions]

Audit rips Georgia schools' curriculum

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Bump!

[TxBec]

ping

[Quila]

Under the Sanchez version of Texas Scholars, state academics would be given stipends to write textbooks or create multimedia material. They would give their intellectual property rights to Texas schools for free but would be able to make a profit selling the material to other states.

At first when I read the title I was scared: the state writing and publishing textbooks. I don't like that idea.

But this actually looks like a cool idea. The state underwrites textbook creation by independent academics, paying at-cost for them essentially instead of paying publisher profits, and the academics have incentive because they'll make money on out-of-state sales.

So where's the textbook publisher lobby to try to stop this?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

***But in a discussion with reporters, Sanchez was vague about how the scholars would be chosen to avoid individuals who would politicize their materials. "We're going to have peer reviews often," he said. "I don't think you're simply going to accept a scholar's recommendations and then move on." He said the scholars would come from both the private sector and public universities and likely would be chosen from applications filed with the state's universities. ***

I don't think the state universities should be selecting the scholars. Talk about a closed shop! It's hard enough for a conservative to be hired by a university.

A CLASS STRUGGLE: Tenure of Avowed Marxist Controversy jolts College

College of the Mainland board unswayed by vehement critics (My title: Marxist professor gets tenure)

[Quila]

Somebody has to choose. Let's just hope the selection process is peer-reviewed by independent scholars.

[jf55510]

This will never happen. First there is no money unless he raises taxes or has massive cuts in the budget(it looks like a big deficit come Jan). Also once Repubs get control of the House and Senate this will never pass. Right now the SBOE is 10-5 R to D with about 8 real conservatives and they are doing just fine in rejecting leftist textbooks.