Political Quotes

“In education, Mr. Chairman, oftentimes textbooks cost hundreds of dollars for each student. Now, sometimes that money has to come from the families. Sometimes the school or the district might have some old dog-eared textbooks, outdated and of different versions. I have been to a number of classrooms where the teacher has to say, For your assignment, if you have this version, read pages 33 through 35. If you have this version, it is 36 through 38. If you don't have any version, here's a few copies in front that we'll give to you. That gets in the way of a quality education, both from an access standpoint, from a reinforcing economic disparity standpoint, as well as preventing our students from having access to the most up-to-date textbooks and available information. In an effort to address this issue, what my amendment would do is create an allowable use of funds for awarding grants for the creation and distribution of open source textbooks and open educational resources. The open source movement, in general, is sweeping the country with regard to available education and other areas. My amendment allows funds to be used for the creation and distribution of open source educational resources and textbooks at the K-12 level to bring cost savings to school districts, cost savings to families, and quality enhancements and educational enhancements to those districts, schools, and States that embrace this utilization of the funds.…”