OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
GROVERSELLERS
ArrOIWW
GENI”AL
Hon. L. A. woode
State Superintendentof Publio Instruction
Austin, Texan
Dear Sir: Opinion Ilo. o-n5a
Rcr Whether State Boanl oi Bd -
tion is author;zed to e4+er!>
tented to dote
been recelrod and care-
quote ima your re-
“In the past your depnrtmcnt has ruled that a
contract for the rebinding of State owned textbooks should
be let by the Sate Board of Control, and when the ques-
tim’of hnving tests made of the component materials of
rree textbooks came beiore the ?tate Board of Education
Hon. L. A. Wood8 - Page 2
for its consideration,the question van relsed as
to vhether or not thlr vould be be a proper function
of the Board of Education or ot the Board o? Con-
trol.
"Several years ago the State Board of Eduoa-
tlon approved the manufacturing standarda and
speclilcatlonnan net out in the attached Form A
ontltled Offlalal Mlnlmus Manufacturing Standards
nnd Zpeclilcatlonnfor Textbooks. Those speclfl-
cationn and &tandarclshave nov been adopted by at
leaat tvelve states and vere orlglnally worked
up from the epeclflcatlonsprepared ln the local
Textboo'rDfvlslon. These speClflC8tlonsand
standards have also been adopted by the Book
Manufacturers'Institute of the United States for
the manufncture of textbook8 ln all states vhlch
have free books.
"The State Board at Education has at no tlme
elnce the adoption of its otflclal mlnlmum msnu-
facturing standatis and specificatloashad any
method by which It could tietermlnewith eny degree
of exactness vhether or not its epecitlcatlonavere
balng complied with in the manufacture of textbooks.
The only method of determlnlng such mntters in the
paat has been by visual and manual examination of
bound volumes vlthout the aid of lnatrumente or
speclflc scientific teats OS any kind. Hove:er,
it is provided in Article 2848, R.C.9. -that
The text books ahall be selected and adopted ;&eE
a careful examlnatlonand consideration of all books
presented, and the booka selected and adopted shall
be those vNch, in the opinion of the Commlseion,
are most acceptable for une in the schools --
qualltg, mechanical construotlon.paper, prlnt,
authorship, literary merit and other relevarltmatter4
being given zuch weight in making its decision as the
Comalaoion may deem advisable.'
'In view of the fact that the State Board of
F'ducatlonpurchases annually noproximately tvo mllllon
flallarsworth of 3tate textbooks and that the books
ln the F',tate
reproaent a continuoUs investnent of
from six to eight nlllion dollars, It seems that lt
.
Hon. L. A. Voode - Peg8 3
vould be rlealxsbleto have access to some
agency through vhlch it oan ba definitely de-
termined tlmt there products are being mnufao-
tursd in such manner am to protect the fincal
lntorestr of the State and at the same tlms provide
the children of the State with the beet content
meterlale of the reepeotlve rmbjects for a’pro-
gresslve educational program. The follovlng 14
an example of vhat could happen if certain types
of textbook8 ~41-4made of poor materials or
vem poorly mnufactured and vould not stand up
to the hard wage to which such books are nub-
Jetted in the hands of the children In the
upper elementary gradeer A certain textbook in
the eubject of United Staten Xlrtory nov under
contract la purchased at a cost of $1.47. In the
three years that thle book ha8 been under contract
the &ate haa purchased approximately 120,000
copies at an approximate cant 0f $175,000.00.
The book 14 under contract for three more yearn.
Should the lZO.OOO copier nov in the State be-
cauee of poor waponent materials or poor manu-
facturlng standards go to pieces ln the next
year or tvo, the coat of replacementsfor thla
ono title could very easily be practically
doubled, vhereas a book of eimllar type and
coat vhlch 1s composed of standardmaterials a&i
vhlch 1s produced under atandmd manufaoturlng processes
can be maintained in tb.achools for six yeara at nn
average total replacement cost of from fifteen to tventy-
five prr cent of the pumhase price of the original
number needed to completely supply the schools.
“Ccrtaln contacts have been made and It 1s defl-
nltely established that there are testing laboratories
In the State vhooe ovners and employees together ere
adequately prepared and equlpment is available for
rankingsuch tents as vi11 determine the quality of na-
terfals employed in the manufacture of State ovnod text-
boQka. Moreover, the testing procedure and the tests
th4ms4lvea nre ~11 !:etout In Column 22, Peg4 3 of Form
A. kinimum t!enufacturingStandards end 3peCific8tlons
for Textbooko.
'%c shall be qlad to i-iive
your oplnlon vlth
renpecf;to 9ur original question at your early conven-
ience.
‘760 -
Hon. L. A. Vooda - Page 4
Artlole 2848, Vernon's Annotated Texaa Civil
3tatuter, read4 a8 follov4r
"It ahall be the duty of the conlmdon
to meet at the time end place mntloned in the
notice w&d advertleewnt, end it shall then end
there open and U(Udn8 the sealed proposal4 re-
ceived; and it ahall be the duty of the c&esion
to mke a full and complete l.nve4tlgatlon of all
the book4 and bide acoompenying the aen. The
textbooks &all be eeleoted and hdouted aftra
careful examlnatlon end oonetderatlon of 411 booke
presented. end the books eolected snd adopted shafl
be those which In the oulnlon of the c~ealon ore
moat acceptable for uae in the schools - uuallty,
mechanlcel construotlon. D(rger.print prloe,
authorship. literary merit and other rsPevant
mettore being Riven eucn veiuht in mawina its de-
clslon a4 the co~lsslon s!aydeem advls8ble. The
cormisslon shall proceed vlthout delay to edopt
for uae in the publio schools of thlr State text-
books on all branch44 hereinbeforementlonedt
provided, that if the bids aubmltted to said COP-
mias1011should not be astirfactoryto BSid com-
nlsslon, they nsy portpone the seleatioriof such
book4 or a p6rt thereof to such tirabPa they My
select, and atter the 8ame la readvertlredd,nev
bids nay be received and acted on by ouch coa-
mlsrlon a4 provided for ln this Act; provided.
that no textbook shell be edopted until it ha4
been read carefully rindexamlned by at least a
maJorlty of the ~ommleslon.~ (Underrcoriag oure)
The State Textbook Commlsalon ha8 been abolished
and its duties vere transferred to the state Board of xduca-
tion. 344 Article 2t575b-5, Vernon’s Annotated Tex44 Civil
Statutes.
Opinion Ro. C-401 of thla depertmnt le the
opinion referred to in your letter, vhlch holds that a mm-
trect for rebinding of State ovned textbooks should be let
by the 3tate Board of Control. However, thla holding vhs
based on the specific provisions of Article 608, R.C.3. end
ve thiuk has no sppllcatlon to t&e queatlon submitted by you.
r&my atetutea deal vlth the euthorlty of the Board
of Control to let contrects for the purchase of 3tete supp1i48,
Ron. L. A. Woods - Pege 5
printing, eta. but ve am umble to find any statute giving
the Board of Control eny authority or jurisdictionover the
letting o? a contract similar to the one inquired about in
your letter, and it la therefore our opialon that the Board
of Control has no authority or duty to let the contract In-
quired about.
It ls.our further opinion that Article 2848, supm,
la breed enough to authorlre the Board of Educatltm to enter
Into the contract inquired about.
It is our further opinion that there i8 en evall-
able appropriationfrom which payment of such contract could
be nrado. This appropriation la found under the title “Text-
book Dlvlsion sud Textbook Depository”, is a part of the
appropriationaprovided for the State Board of Education, la
i’oundon age 851, Vol. 5, Vernon’s 1945 Texan Session Lev
Scrvlce, and made ae Sollovsr
“It la provided that any amount expended for
Textbook Adainlatratlon,including nev textbookr,
rebinding, and my other exDe,enseeconnected therevith,
shall be paid out of the State Textbook Fund.”
(Underscoringours)
Trunting that this satisfectorilyanavera pour inquiry,
ve are
Very truly your8
ATTORNEYOWERALOF TEXAS
u
- BY Wm. J. Fe-Xl%
Asslstnnt
WJFr BT