BILL REQ. #:  H-4230.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/07/12.   

     AN ACT Relating to open educational resources in K-12 education; adding a new section to chapter 28A.300 RCW; creating a new section; and providing an expiration date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds the state's recent adoption of common core K-12 standards provides an opportunity to develop high-quality, openly licensed K-12 courseware that is aligned with these standards. By developing this library of openly licensed courseware and making it available to school districts free of charge, the state and school districts will be able to provide students with curricula and texts while substantially reducing the expenses that districts would otherwise incur in purchasing these materials. In addition, this library of openly licensed courseware will provide districts and students with a broader selection of materials, and materials that are more up-to-date. Because this opportunity will both improve student learning and reduce costs, the legislature finds that there are valid educational reasons for temporarily reinvesting a portion of the state allocation for curriculum and textbooks in order to develop this library of openly licensed courseware.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 28A.300 RCW to read as follows:
     (1)(a) Subject to availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the superintendent of public instruction shall take the lead in developing openly licensed courseware aligned with the common core state standards and placed under a Creative Commons attribution license that allows others to use, distribute, and create derivative works based upon the digital material, while still allowing the authors or creators to retain the copyright and to receive credit for their efforts.
     (b) During the course of development, the superintendent:
     (i) May contract with third parties for all or part of the development;
     (ii) May adopt or adapt existing high quality openly licensed K-12 courseware aligned with the common core state standards;
     (iii) Must use best efforts to seek additional outside funding; and
     (iv) Must work collaboratively with other states that have adopted the common core state standards and collectively share results.
     (2) The superintendent of public instruction must also:
     (a) Advertise to school districts the availability of openly licensed courseware, with an emphasis on the fact that the courseware is available at no cost to the districts;
     (b) Identify an open courseware repository to which openly licensed courseware developed under this section may be submitted, in which openly licensed courseware may be housed, and from which openly licensed courseware may be easily accessed, all at no cost to school districts;
     (c) Provide professional development programs that offer support, guidance, and instruction regarding the creation, use, and continuous improvement of open courseware; and
     (d) Report to the governor and the education committees of the legislature on a biennial basis, beginning December 1, 2013, and ending December 1, 2017, regarding development of openly licensed courseware aligned with the common core state standards and placed under a Creative Commons attribution license, use by school districts of openly licensed courseware, and professional development programs provided.
     (3) School districts may, but are not required to, use any of the openly licensed courseware.
     (4) As used in this section, "courseware" includes the course syllabus, scope and sequence, instructional materials, modules, textbooks, including the teacher's edition, student guides, supplemental materials, formative and summative assessment supports, research articles, research data, laboratory activities, simulations, videos, open-ended inquiry activities, and any other educationally useful materials.
     (5) This section expires June 30, 2018.