Hal Plotkin Interview Notes - August 10, 2009

Conducted with Erhardt Graeff and Carolina Rossini via telephone on August 10, 2009, concerning California's 2009 Free Digital Textbook Initiative and Obama's American Graduation Initiative

Interviewee

• Hal Plotkin
  • Senior Advisor, Office of the Under Secretary, U.S. Department of Education
  • Email: hplotkin [at] plotkin [dot] com

Follow-up E-mail Links and Comments

In no particular order…please see:

• http://www.plotkin.com/blog-archives/2006/12/oped_in_san_jos.html
• http://www.plotkin.com/blog-archives/2007/03/news_flash_rusk_1.html
• http://www.plotkin.com/blog-archives/2006/03/sacramento_hear.html
• http://www.plotkin.com/blog-archives/2009/03/free_textbooks_1.html
• http://www.halplotkin.com/SFgate001.htm (about distance learning in general but last sections may offer a way to drive home the point we are trying to make - what excuse do we have for not using all the tools at our disposal to increase education attainment levels?)
• http://www.halplotkin.com/SFGate056.htm
• http://fhdafiles.fhda.edu/downloads/homefhda/PlotkinKanterPDtestimony.pdf
• http://www.plotkin.com/blog-archives/2004/10/creating_public.html
• http://www.halplotkin.com/OpenLettertoFoothillDeAnzaFaculty.htm

"One other thing I’d add on the legislative front, which is a historical perspective. Years (decades) ago there developed a strong alliance between textbook publishers and progressive democrats as the publishers battled issues such as attempts to ban certain books, to restrict the books that public libraries could purchase, to dictate content of certain textbooks in the sciences, etc. - all of which led to a tight alliance between textbook publishers, their lobbyists and the democratic party. This historic alliance is in many ways and in many places still in place and its effect on the outcome of legislative proposals to advance OER is uncertain."

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