TAA Action Issues
Last Updated October 20, 2009
- TAA members asked to make opinions on government-published “free” textbooks known
- TAA releases articles that debunks the top 7 myths regarding textbook costs
- Stomp the Comp! TAA's fight against the sale of complimentary copies
- Florida "Textbook Affordability Bill" includes language regarding comp copy sales
TAA members asked to make opinions on government-published “free” textbooks known
TAA Members Respond: "It would be far easier to jump on board this proposal if government had a better track record in its incursions into the relationship among publisher, author, and teacher. But it is governments—state boards of education, typically—that have pressured textbook publishers to water down their work so as to not offend. Creationism and its more recent incarnation, intelligent design, have been pushed on professional educators over and over, and principled teachers have had to go to court to win their right to adopt more appropriate learning materials. To be sure, the federal government has frequently been a powerful check on dangerous interventions at the state and local level. But we should not cast aside all skepticism just because this is federal legislation under consideration. Who among us would embrace the idea of Congress being able to dictate to schools and colleges nationwide what books they should use? Yet in an age of scarce resources, forcing publishers and authors to compete against zero-cost classroom materials will make it very difficult indeed for individual school boards and teachers to argue for what they see as superior materials but which are not offered free of charge." Paul Siegel |
TAA Executive Director Richard Hull asks members to help the Association of American Publishers with their efforts to amend a bill (HR 3221) that would allow the government to produce online course materials. The AAP argues that quality online materials are already readily available, and the government would be hurting authors, publishers, and the hundreds of companies involved in developing and distributing online materials -- and students -- by competing with them.
Dear TAA Members:
The Association of American Publishers has asked us to help them with their efforts to amend a bill that would allow the government to produce free online course materials. The AAP argues that quality online materials are already readily available, and the government would be hurting authors, publishers, and the hundreds of companies involved in developing and distributing online materials — and students — by competing with them.
HR 3221 is still sitting in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP). The Association of American Publishers (AAP) has been meeting with the staff of the Senators who serve on the HELP Committee and their staff to encourage them to amend the bill.
The bill has the solid backing of the White House and staff at the Department of Education. Their principal arguments are that quality online materials are not available and, even if they are, the government can produce better materials, and that online course and course materials should be free to everyone, in the U.S. and abroad.
The AAP has pointed out that online courses are, in fact readily available and that those produced in the U.S. are the best in the world and noted that spending government money to compete with that existing structure will hurt authors, publishers and the hundreds of companies involved in developing and distributing online materials and, ultimately, the very students they want to help.
The government wants to start from scratch. Why wait when, as Tom Allen notes in his attached letter to the editor of Politico; all the course materials they want are already only “a mouse click away.” The AAP said they are getting some traction with the Democrats. The Republicans on the Committee are strongly supportive of our position but, as the minority, have limited input to the process.
I encourage you to contact HELP Committee members and express your opinions on the bill. Clicking on the link beside each name will take you to the member’s web page; look for “Contact me” and then search for the email address or the telephone number for legislative issues.
Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions
Here is a collection of background articles to look at to make your expressed opinion more credible:Democrats (13)
Robert E. Andrews (NJ-01) http://www.house.gov/andrews/
David Wu (OR-01) http://www.house.gov/wu/
Phil Hare (IL-17) http://www.house.gov/hare/
John F. Tierney (MA-06) http://www.house.gov/tierney/
Dennis J. Kucinich (OH-10) http://www.house.gov/kucinich/
Marcia Fudge (OH-11) http://www.house.gov/fudge/
Dale E. Kildee (MI-05) http://www.house.gov/kildee/
Carolyn McCarthy (NY-04) http://www.house.gov/mccarthy/
Rush D. Holt (NJ-12) http://www.house.gov/holt/
Joe Sestak (PA-07) http://www.house.gov/sestak/
Dave Loebsack (IA-02) http://www.house.gov/loebsack/
Yvette Clark (NY-11) http://www.house.gov/clark/
Republicans (8)
Tom Price (GA-06) http://www.house.gov/price/
John Kline (MN-02) http://www.house.gov/kline/
Howard “Buck” McKeon (CA-25) http://www.house.gov/mckeon/
Joe Wilson (SC-02) http://www.house.gov/wilson/
Brett Guthrie (KY-2) http://www.house.gov/guthrie/
Tom McClintock (CA-4) http://www.house.gov/mcclintock/
Duncan D. Hunter (CA-52) http://www.house.gov/hunter/
Phil Roe (TN-1) http://www.house.gov/roe/
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1009/27922.html
Tom Allen, President and CEO, Association of American Publishers
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/27762.html
Column supporting HR 3221 by Sec. of Ed Arne Duncan
http://www.redstate.com/johnkline/2009/10/15/federal-curriculum-101/
Column opposing HR 3221 by Rep. Kline (R-MN)
http://chronicle.com/article/Free-Online-Courses-at-a-V/48777/
Open Courses: Free, but Oh So Costly
http://chronicle.com/article/Countries-Offer-Different-T/48775/
Around the World, Varied Approaches to Open Online Learning
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2009/10/06/hess
The Misguided 'Online Skills Laboratory
http://www.hewlett.org/news/the-liberation-of-textbooks
The Liberation of Textbooks
Both textbook and academic authors will have interests affected by a government-run free, open access textbook program in competition with standard publishers. You may wish to express your views so that this sub committee understands the opinions of us all.
Richard Hull, PhD
Executive Director of TAA
Richard.Hull@taaonline.net
(850) 893-6539
TAA releases article that debunks the top 7 myths regarding textbook costs
by Kim Pawlak
Check Out ... Check out Association of American Publisher's Textbook Facts.org, which was created to correct the misperceptions about college textbooks, provide useful information about textbook publishing and show how publishers are helping students succeed and responding to marketplace interest in expanded choice and flexibility: http://www.textbookfacts.org |
Students' purchase of used textbooks, and more recently, the theft of new textbooks via downloads at file sharing websites, is based on misinformation about how textbook publishing works, how professors choose textbooks, the business practices of book resellers, and the motivations of authors who write textbooks, said Richard Hull, executive director of the Text and Academic Authors Association (TAA).
TAA recently interviewed publishers, professors and authors as a way to set straight the top myths regarding textbook costs.
Stomp the Comp!
TAA's fight against the sale of complimentary copies
Since its inception in 1987, TAA members have held the problems of complimentary copies and used textbooks to be among the most worrisome and aggravating ones of the profession.
More info on Stomp the Comp efforts
Florida
'Textbook Affordability Bill' includes language regarding comp
copy sales
Due in part to the efforts of TAA and its members, Florida's HB603 "Textbook Affordability Bill" has been amended by Representative Anitere Flores to include language regarding the sale of complimentary copies.
The bill was amended to include the following: "These materials may not be sold for any type of compensation if they are specifically marked as free samples not for resale."
"While this means that comp copies that are not specifically marked as 'free samples not for resale' can still be sold, on the whole, our effort to modify Florida's comp copy law was a reasonable success," said TAA Executive Director Richard Hull. "Now it is up to publishers to make sure comp copies are appropriately marked."
 |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
||||
 |
|||||
|
|
||||
|
|||||
