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The Texas House gave preliminary approval on Saturday to a bill which would grant unprecedented surveillance on the public universities of the State.
Other states led by the Conservatives, including Florida and North Carolina, have sought to influence who directs the colleges and what is taught in classrooms. Texas is about to go further by transferring some of these responsibilities, traditionally held by teachers, to politically appointed university regents. The legislation would also create a state office with the power to investigate universities and would threaten their funding if they do not comply with the law.
Supporters argue that the measure is necessary to combat what they perceive as a liberal bias in universities and to better support the needs of the state labor. Critics say that it will undermine teaching and research.
Bill 37 of the Senate succeeded in a vote of 83-53 on Saturday. He would create a committee at the state level which would recommend courses that should be necessary to obtain the diploma and how to condense the number of these courses. Meanwhile, the board of directors of each public university system, which oversees the school operations and is appointed by the governor, would be responsible for creating a committee to examine the programs and reject any course deemed ideologically invoiced or that does not align themselves with demands for workforce. More specifically, the committees would guarantee that the programs “do not recommend or promote that any race, sex, ethnic or religious belief is intrinsically higher than any other”.
“Members are a bill for which you may be proud to vote,” said the state representative. Matt ShaheenA republican Plano who brought the bill to the House, said during the debate on Saturday. “The final result will be that the diplomas with whom your children and the grandchildren will graduate will be more precious. They will be able to obtain these diplomas faster. They will be cheaper. “
The critical faculty of the bill declared that he could lead many of them to the autocensor because the teaching of everything related to race, sex or inequalities could be misinterpreted as a violation.
The bill would also limit the influence of the faculty on campus. The faculty advice or senates, organizations that have traditionally advised university administrators on university and hiring decisions, will become smaller. In addition, the SB 37 would require that half of their members be appointed by the president of the university, rather than elected officials. Any member would be subject to deletion if he uses his position for political advocacy.
The bill would also force the regents to approve the hiring of more administrators. Traditionally, they only got involved in hiring main steering positions.
Finally, the legislation would create an office, led by a person appointed by the governor, to ensure that schools comply with the new law. The office could recommend limiting the financing of the state of universities which violates the law until a state auditor confirms that they are in accordance.
The bill intervenes in the midst of repeated clashes between republican heads of state and teachers in recent years. In particular, the University of Texas of the Faculty of Austin has angry the Lieutenant-Governor of Lieutenant Governor. Dan Patrick With a letter of 2021 reaffirming their right to teach the critical theory of the race. This academic discipline explores how racism has permeated American institutions and has become a regular target of conservative criticism. U-Austin teachers also condemned academic administrators and heads of state for the repression of the police against pro-Palestinian demonstrators on campus last year.
SB 37, written by the senator Brandon CreightonA republican of Conroe, adopted the Senate in April.
The Democrats of the Chamber raised concerns on Saturday as to the rigorously revision of diploma programs in the way in which the bill described could lead to the elimination of diplomas in the humanities and social sciences. They also said that students would ultimately be those who pay when universities should respond to frivolous complaints sent to the state office.
“The bill is not to improve education. It involves increasing control,” said representative Donna Howard, D-Austin. “He threatens academic freedom. He undermines the votes of the teachers, and he injects politics into the classroom at a time when we should be focused on the widening of access, improving the results of students and the restoration of confidence in our educational systems. ”
The house must pass the bill a third time. The Senate must accept the changes in the Chamber or the members must develop differences between their different versions of the bill before being able to be sent to the governor.
Texas Tribune joins forces with Open Campus on the cover of higher education.
The first round of the tribfest speakers announced! Pulitzer prize winner Maureen Dowd; Rep. Tony GonzalesR-San Antonio; Mayor of Fort Worth Mattie Parker; The American senator Adam SchiffD-California; And we repeated American. Jasmine CrockettD-Dallas goes on stage from November 13 to 15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!