It was another light week for the House Committee on Higher Education, with the hearing focusing primarily on university accessibility.
Chairman Terry Wilson laid out the Bills House Building 4909 and HB 4912. By establishing the new “My Texas Future” program on the TexasCommon application website, HB 4909 will raise awareness of universities eligible for automatic admission, along with estimating future financial aid packages. Meanwhile, HB 4912 requires that the Texas Higher Education Coordination Board (THECB) designate one week in October as the “free university application week” and exempt application fees for all institutions of higher education. Both bills make great strides in ensuring that more students have the opportunity and awareness to pursue higher education.
Unfortunately, we can’t sing the same amount of praise about what the Senate is doing. The Senate Education K-16 Committee passed with the introduction of an alternative committee to Senate Bill 37, an omnibus bill introduced by Senator Brandon Clayton, which aims to change the structure of faculty governance. Committee substitutes take a more stringent stance on curriculum monitoring, compliance investigations, and processes eligible for participation.
This is what is at risk:
Curriculum Censorship: SB 37 will focus all decisions on general education coursework under the “Curriculum Review Committee” whose members have been appointed by the Governor, Middle Li and the Speaker of the House. This unelected body is empowered to unilaterally block a curriculum that we consider to be “ideological” or contradictory with a narrow definition of American history and values that prohibit teachings about racism, sexism, oppression and privilege.
End of Shared Governance: The bill establishes key new parameters for the faculty senate. Half of the faculty senate organizations are appointed by the institution’s president and are eligible to serve up to six consecutive years of one year term. Meanwhile, the other half is elected by the university or school and is eligible to serve only one two-year term. Teachers can be removed due to vaguely defined “political advocacy,” a direct attack on academic freedom and the right to first amendments.
New Power to Shut Down Academic Programs: This version of SB 37 includes other bad invoice elements such as the HB 281/SB 757 (Tepper/Middleton) that incorporate elements relating to academic programs refunds and discontinuations. THECB has the power to determine the success thresholds for degree and certificate programs, and then has a “reward, surveillance, sanctions, or sunset” programme depending on performance assessments.
Politicized Complaints and Employment Process: The bill removes faculty from complaints decisions and employment roles, strips educators of basic due-process protections, and reduces roles in the academic community to mere employees without speaking up. Only institutional presidents, Provosts, and other university administrators may be involved in the decision to make faculty complaints.
Weaponized Surveillance: THECB’s new “Ombudsman Office” will be established and serve as “intermediaries for Congress, the public and institutions of higher education.” However, its true role is to investigate the agency to violate the mission of SB 37. These reports will be published online and shared with the Attorney General and could pose lawsuits and threats for the university to fully refund. Unlike traditional Ombuds offices, this is designed to punish rather than mediate.
Texas AAUP-faft stands firmly in this coordinated effort to silence faculty, censorship curriculum and erode public trust in higher education. SB 37 is not about improving education. It is about integrating political control over what we teach, who teach it, and how we govern. The bill is expected on the Senate floor on Monday. Teachers, students, and the public must now reach out to the Senators to advocate for the future of Texas’ higher education.
