The Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 37, a bill that could increase the state’s control over public Texas universities along party lines, after an hour-long floor debate between bill author Sen. Brandon Creighton and other state senators on Tuesday.
SB 37 would create a statewide committee to evaluate the curriculum of Texas universities, limit the number of faculty on faculty councils and senates and establish a complaint system to remove funding for universities. The bill must pass the Texas House of Representatives and be signed by the governor before it takes effect.
“Higher education should be about teaching students how to think, not what to think,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in a statement on Tuesday. “I thank Sen. Creighton for his commitment to ensuring our students are workforce-ready and are prepared for a brighter future and fulfilling careers.”
SB 37 also requires that courses not teach “identity politics” or theories that “systemic racism, sexism, oppression or privilege is inherent in the institutions of the United States.” State Sen. Borris Miles said this bill could create fear of professional retaliation for professors who engage in race and equity topics.
The bill would require the governing boards of Texas universities to review their general education and course curriculums to ensure they are “fundamental to a sound postsecondary education” and “prepare students for civic and professional life.” On the Senate floor, State Sen. Royce West questioned Creighton over what the bill considers “civic” life.
“In order for our children to be able to function depending upon whether they could get out of the cocoon, they’ve got to be prepared to interact with people from all over the world,” West said. “I look at that as civic also.”
Creighton said he is concerned that UT syllabi mention terms like “Abraham Lincoln,” “the Federalist Papers” and “the Declaration of Independence” less than terms like “race” and “gender.”
The debate also centered around whether the curriculum gives students the skills needed to function in the workplace. The bill would require university governing boards to “sunset” degree programs that do not offer a “return on investment.”
“It’s more important that we rely on these committees to make recommendations based on a lot of different data that they pull in on what does and does not appropriately tie to core curriculum, leading to a degree of value,” Creighton said. “There’s obviously a line between teaching and promoting ideology. We’ve got it in the bill already (and) should put it as the highest priority to never distort history.”
The bill also creates an “Office of the Ombudsman” to investigate complaints that schools are not complying with the bill and threatens to take away state funds from the schools that do not comply with the office’s rulings.
UT professors criticized the bill at a Senate Committee on Education K-16 hearing last month for not allowing diverse perspectives and creating fear in professors teaching their chosen subject. Karma Chávez, UT professor and member of the American Association of University Professors, said the bill places some ideologies above others because the School of Civic Leadership did not appear to be at risk.
“(The School of Civic Leadership) endorses several ideologies, including Western civilization, the American constitutional tradition, the Western tradition and the notion of a free society,” Chávez said. “These are all ideological and what the school y’all created endorses, (but) I suspect, Sen. Creighton, you’re more concerned with what the right often describes as ‘woke’ or ‘gender’ or ‘CRT ideologies,’ but if what you truly value as a free society, you can’t have it both ways.”
