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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, According to the College Board, the average | ||||||
3 | student at a 4-year university spent an estimated $1,222 per | ||||||
4 | year on college books and supplies; and
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5 | WHEREAS, According to the National Association of College | ||||||
6 | Stores, the gross margin on new college textbooks was 25.6% in | ||||||
7 | 2012; and
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8 | WHEREAS, The United States Government Accountability | ||||||
9 | Office has found that college textbook prices have risen at | ||||||
10 | twice the rate of annual inflation over the last 2 decades and | ||||||
11 | that new textbook prices increased 82% over the last decade; | ||||||
12 | and
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13 | WHEREAS, Real median annual household income has decreased | ||||||
14 | by $5,000 since 2000; and
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15 | WHEREAS, An open source material project that would make | ||||||
16 | high-quality educational materials freely available to the | ||||||
17 | general public would reduce college textbook costs and increase | ||||||
18 | accessibility to such education materials; and | ||||||
19 | WHEREAS, College-level open source course work materials | ||||||
20 | in math, physics, and chemistry represent a high-priority first |
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1 | step in this area; and
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2 | WHEREAS, The scientific and technical workforce at federal | ||||||
3 | agencies, national laboratories, and federally-funded research | ||||||
4 | and development centers could make a valuable contribution to | ||||||
5 | this effort; and
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6 | WHEREAS, A federal oversight role in the creation and | ||||||
7 | maintenance of standard, publicly-vetted textbooks is | ||||||
8 | desirable to ensure that intellectual property is respected and | ||||||
9 | that public standards for quality, educational effectiveness, | ||||||
10 | and scientific accuracy are maintained; therefore, be it
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11 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
12 | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
13 | we urge the members of the United States House of | ||||||
14 | Representatives to pass H.R. 4455, the Learning Opportunities | ||||||
15 | With Creation of Open Source Textbooks (LOW COST) Act of 2014; | ||||||
16 | and be it further
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17 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
18 | delivered to the members of the Illinois congressional | ||||||
19 | delegation.
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