Advocates say public money for open educational resources is smart investment | Inside Higher Ed

"Advocates for open educational resources, or OER, have had mixed success in getting the federal government to invest public money in open course materials. Money that would have gone to creating open materials for community colleges ended up getting axed from the 2009 American Graduation Initiative. While the Labor Department program that took its place could provide as much as $2 billion over several years, federal lawmakers have proposed to eliminate grants to develop OER if commercial publishers already offer -- or have “under development” -- similar materials. But while OER advocates have gotten inconsistent backing in Washington, D.C., they were able to claim a small but potentially significant victory on Monday in Washington State. The community and technical college system there celebrated the first major landmark in a state-funded push for open courses that it expects will save students hundreds per year in textbook costs, and that OER proponents hope could provide an example of how public investment in open materials is not charitable, but strategic...."