It was another light week in the House Higher Education Committee, with the hearing mainly focusing on college accessibility.
Chairman Terry Wilson laid out his bills House Bill 4909 and HB 4912. By establishing a new “My Texas Future” program in the Texas common application website, HB 4909 would increase high school students’ awareness of which colleges they are eligible for automatic admission, along with an estimate of their prospective financial aid package. HB 4912, meanwhile, requires the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) to designate a week in October as “Free College Application Week,” waiving application fees for all institutions of higher education. Both bills will make significant strides toward ensuring more students have the opportunity and awareness to pursue higher education.
Unfortunately, we can’t sing the same amount of praise for what the Senate’s been up to. The Senate Education K-16 Committee introduced and passed the committee substitute of Senate Bill 37, the omnibus bill filed by Sen. Brandon Creighton that aims to change the structure of faculty governance. The committee substitute takes a harsher stance on curriculum oversight, compliance investigation, and what processes faculty are eligible to participate in.
Here’s what’s at stake:
Curriculum Censorship: SB 37 would centralize all decisions about general education coursework under a “Curriculum Review Committee” whose members are appointed by the governor, lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the House. This unelected body would be empowered to unilaterally block curricula it deems too “ideological” or inconsistent with a narrow definition of American history and values – banning teachings on racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege.
End of Shared Governance: The bill would establish major new parameters for faculty senates. Half of the faculty senate body would be appointed by the institution’s president and would be eligible to serve up to six consecutive one-year terms. Meanwhile, the other half would be elected by their college or school and would only be eligible to serve a single two-year term. Faculty can be removed for vaguely defined “political advocacy,” a direct attack on academic freedom and First Amendment rights.
New Power to Shut Down Academic Programs: This version of SB 37 incorporates elements from other bad bills like HB 281 / SB 757 (Tepper / Middleton) on defunding and discontinuing academic programs. The THECB would have the power to determine success thresholds for degree and certificate programs and subsequently “reward, monitor, sanction, or sunset” programs depending on their performance ratings.
Politicized Grievance and Hiring Processes: The bill removes faculty from grievance decisions and hiring roles, stripping educators of basic due process protections and reducing their role in the academic community to mere employees without a voice. Only an institution’s president, provost, and other university administrators may be involved in the decision-making of a faculty grievance.
Weaponized Oversight: A new “Office of the Ombudsman” at THECB would be established to serve as the “intermediary between the legislature, the public, and institutions of higher education.” However, its true role would be investigating institutions for noncompliance with SB 37’s mandates. These reports would be published online, shared with the attorney general, and could trigger lawsuits or threats to completely defund universities. Unlike traditional ombuds offices, this one is designed not to mediate but to punish.
Texas AAUP-AFT stands firmly against this coordinated effort to silence faculty, censor curricula, and erode public trust in higher education. SB 37 isn’t about improving education — it’s about consolidating political control over what we teach, who teaches it, and how we govern our institutions. The bill is expected on the Senate floor Monday. Faculty, students, and the public must reach out to their senators now to defend the future of higher education in Texas.