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Texas lawmakers moving to greatly increase control of state universities
The Washington Post ^ | May 5, 2025 7:00 a.m. EDT | Molly Hennessy-Fiske

Posted on 05/05/2025 5:36:51 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum

A bruising battle over academic freedom is being waged in Texas, where the legislature is poised to give the state power to screen faculty, programs and courses in one of the country’s largest public university systems, and experts say the outcome could reverberate for higher education nationwide.

Conservative lawmakers, who control all levers of government, are advancing a measure they say would hold institutions more accountable and ensure curriculum is “free from ideological bias.” Faculty could be removed or face civil penalties for violations. Schools that fail to comply could be barred from spending state funds.

“Higher education should be about teaching students how to think, not what to think,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) said.

The 27-page omnibus bill, which would rate academic programs based on average student debt and “return on investment for students,” has already passed the state Senate. A House committee is expected to consider a version of S.B. 37 on Tuesday. If the chamber also approves the measure, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is expected to sign it into law.

Opponents say the result would essentially be a takeover of the state’s 126 public universities, community college districts and medical schools, with state officials even allowed to overturn hiring decisions. They fear it could damage the institutions’ reputations and lead to a faculty brain drain.

“It’s a concentration of power in government,” said Brian Evans, president of the Texas conference of the American Association of University Professors. He testified against the legislation in March, contending that it “will infringe on students’ freedom to learn and teachers’ ability to teach.”

The Senate vote that followed, along party lines, was 20-11 in favor.

State takeovers are nothing new here. Republican leaders have used them in recent years to fight blue cities’ policies in elections and K-12...


(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Government; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: curriculum; education; fakenews; mollyhennessyfiske; texas; washingtoncompost
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1 posted on 05/05/2025 5:36:51 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Dear Profs:

Raise your own money or dance to the tune of the paid-by-the public piper.

QED.


2 posted on 05/05/2025 5:41:26 PM PDT by Paladin2 (YMMV)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

“Elections have consequences.” They were delighted when Obama said that.


3 posted on 05/05/2025 5:42:00 PM PDT by Steely Tom ([Voter Fraud] == [Civil War])
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

The state is “taking over” state universities. Ok Molly with the hyphenated last name.


4 posted on 05/05/2025 5:42:19 PM PDT by DesertRhino (2016 Star Wars, 2020 The Empire Strikes Back, 2025... RETURN OF THE JEDI...)
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To: DesertRhino

Take the King’s Coin, do the King’s bidding.


5 posted on 05/05/2025 5:47:22 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Look like U T’s huge building campaign is about to be slowed way down. A kid who grew up with my kids has gotten quite wealthy trouble shooting their poorly planed projects.


6 posted on 05/05/2025 5:55:18 PM PDT by fella ("As it was before Noah so shall it be again," )
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
I have mixed feelings about this kind of approach. It turns education into job-training. To me, the purpose of an education is to impart the tools for an autodidactic life. Hence, sufficient breadth is necessary, whether social or technical, that the student has the skills with which to acquire future capability effectively and efficiently. A focus on training, while necessary, can get in the way of that.

Further, is that ROI calculated after one year, five years, thirty-five years??? One would think the value of an education should span at least that long, but then, the feedback loop is so extended as to be useless. Yes, the people paying for the system should have a say in it, but so do the students.

The problem has been an indoctrinated professorate with the sole license to determine the metrics of that goal set. Obviously that is a problem. If the system had to guarantee its product, things would be different.

7 posted on 05/05/2025 5:59:03 PM PDT by Carry_Okie (The tree of liberty needs a rope.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
A bruising battle over academic freedom is being waged in Texas

Liberals taking over a university and blocking all conservatives is not academic freedom.

8 posted on 05/05/2025 6:01:46 PM PDT by Petrosius
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

While I understand & applaud the TX Legislature for having their heart in the right place, the underlying truth is the state, the students, and the universities are being poorly served by their governing bodies, i.e. the boards of regents or such similarly constituted entities. It’s a game of the good ol’ boys/fatcats getting fatter while real educational outcomes fade away in the rear view mirror.


9 posted on 05/05/2025 6:02:05 PM PDT by T-Bird45 (It feels like the seventies, and it shouldn't. )
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To: Carry_Okie

The problem is the feral government got involved in student loans and encouraged dumb 18-year olds to borrow whatever the universities charged, so the universities charged whatever they wanted and had plenty of funds to create and expand programs and “perfessers” of imaginary/useless subjects like “gender studies” or anything else with the word “studies” in it.

Not everybody should go to college, especially if they are going to bury themselves in student loan debt for a degree that won’t even qualify them to work on a garbage truck.


10 posted on 05/05/2025 6:09:52 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Democrats are the Party of anger, hate and violence.)
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To: dfwgator

Precisely.


11 posted on 05/05/2025 7:44:02 PM PDT by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
The problem is the feral government got involved in student loans and encouraged dumb 18-year olds to borrow whatever the universities charged, so the universities charged whatever they wanted and had plenty of funds to create and expand programs and “perfessers” of imaginary/useless subjects like “gender studies” or anything else with the word “studies” in it.

That is more of a history of the financial problem. I'm talking of the academic problem, which began late in the 19th Century, particularly with Rockefeller influences. For a good history on that, try The Leipzig Connection, by Paolo Lionni.

12 posted on 05/05/2025 7:45:39 PM PDT by Carry_Okie (The tree of liberty needs a rope.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

My kid goes to the University of Texas. He has had grades affected by bucking liberal ideology (within subjectively graded essays). Glad to hear he may well have a place to submit these complaints.


13 posted on 05/05/2025 8:05:54 PM PDT by StolarStorm
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To: E. Pluribus Unum; 38special; 9422WMR; a fool in paradise; AirForce-TechSgt; al_c; Alamo-Girl; ...
Texas Ping, the Best State in the USA!

A ping out to the Texas Ping list, founded by Windflier.

State colleges are not obeying the law ... read all about it!

Another special Texas summer edition for your perusal.

As always, please FReepmail me if you want on or off the Texas Ping list.

Blessings, and stay cool!

14 posted on 05/06/2025 3:39:48 AM PDT by texas booster (Join FreeRepublic's Folding@Home team (Team # 36120) Cure Alzheimer's!)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

I have no problem with this - if they want to use CRT and/or other types of curricula, let them do it in properly named elective courses instead of making it part of other courses...I can’t see too many folks paying for such crap on its own “merits”.


15 posted on 05/06/2025 4:50:44 AM PDT by trebb (So many fools - so little time...)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

“They fear it could damage the institutions’ reputations and lead to a faculty brain drain.”

That’s the goal. Get rid of all those commie faculty, especially the tenured ones.


16 posted on 05/06/2025 5:07:24 AM PDT by EQAndyBuzz (Democrats are not part of the solution. They are part of the problem.)
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To: Paladin2

Should start with UT. I haven’t forgotten Prof Pianka and his teaching on eliminating 90% of the population with ebola.


17 posted on 05/06/2025 6:54:13 AM PDT by bgill
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To: bgill
And this guy... Spenser Rapone

"He is broadly interested in decolonization, revolution, metaphysics, consciousness, and violence in the twentieth century Arab Middle East."

You may remember him from this!


18 posted on 05/06/2025 7:01:37 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

“Opponents say the result would essentially be a takeover of the state’s 126 public universities, community college districts and medical schools, with state officials even allowed to overturn hiring decisions. They fear it could damage the institutions’ reputations and lead to a faculty brain drain.”

Nothing in here about technical colleges but since the Texas legislature fully funds it’s web of technical colleges within the state, I’m going to safely assume this is the case. Brain drain has been ongoing for decades as every single time there has been an administrative change (i.e. college president), the technical brains have been unceremoniously kicked to the curbside. Mind you, these were individuals with a wealth of technical know-how as well as years of successful student placement into the Texas workforce. Just like many real world PhD’s, most of these administrators are complete imbeciles with respect to technical education.

“... it “will infringe on students’ freedom to learn and teachers’ ability to teach.”

Gads.... that horse left the barn years ago as these two go hand in hand. If the instructor is forbidden to teach a technical course that has proven itself to produce positive student outcomes then the students’ freedom to learn has been impacted negatively. I was forced to dumb down my courses simply due to the fact that admin had decided that online learning was what the students’ wanted yet feedback from the students proved otherwise.

Realizing this nonsense was now a permanent teaching method caused a reevaluation of my role as an effective technical instructor so I retired three years later. This teaching method is currently in use and producing substandard students. The admin are total imbeciles only in it for the money hiring other unqualified imbeciles to run various technical departments and could care less about student success. By extension, they could care less about the Texas workforce as this college system was designed specifically to provide Texas with a high quality workforce.


19 posted on 05/06/2025 9:18:47 AM PDT by LastDayz (A Blunt and Brazen Texan. I Will Not Be Assimilated.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

The leftists latest whine is “brain drain”.

We want the leftist intellectual types to go—somewhere far away.

That is a plus.


20 posted on 05/06/2025 9:21:23 AM PDT by cgbg (It was not us. It was them--all along.)
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