Dive Transient:
- Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a strong official who oversees the state’s Senate, is looking for lawmakers to extend oversight and scrutiny of schools’ tenure insurance policies and college governance teams.
- In preparation of the state’s subsequent Senate session, Patrick launched directives Thursday providing perception into his legislative priorities. He charged the Senate’s increased schooling committee with reporting on how the state’s public faculties are complying with SB 18, a legislation giving governing boards the only energy to grant tenure and codifying the post-tenure evaluate course of.
- The lieutenant governor additional ordered lawmakers to suggest pointers to supervise the position of college senates in increased schooling governance — one thing that has not historically been influenced by state lawmakers.
Dive Perception:
Texas has change into a testing floor of kinds for Republican lawmakers seeking to reshape increased schooling. Patrick’s record of priorities provides a glimpse into the problems that can be high of thoughts for state lawmakers.
Patrick has beforehand known as for the elimination of tenure at public faculties in Texas. In 2023, a Texas invoice proposed utterly banning tenure however that provision failed to achieve traction with Home lawmakers. Gov. Greg Abbott signed an overhauled model of the invoice that as an alternative codified insurance policies like post-tenure evaluate.
The lieutenant governor can be an outspoken opponent of variety, fairness and inclusion efforts, and he named a ban on DEI applications in increased schooling as one among his legislative priorities final yr.
The state has since handed a legislation prohibiting public faculties from establishing variety workplaces, hiring staff to do DEI work, or requiring DEI coaching for college kids or staff. Texas was one of many first to enact a DEI ban, and different states like Alabama have since adopted go well with.
Even earlier than the legislation handed, some Texas universities paused their DEI insurance policies over Republican criticism.
On Thursday, Patrick known as for continued monitoring of public faculties’ compliance with the state DEI ban, which took impact Jan. 1.
The Republican writer of the ban, State Sen. Brandon Creighton, not too long ago advised the leaders of Texas’ seven college methods to element their compliance with the legislation by Might 3, forward of a senate schooling committee listening to.
Creighton raised considerations that faculties have been making an attempt to avoid the ban. Since his directive, some establishments within the College of Texas system have laid off DEI employees.
Patrick additionally known as for lawmakers to evaluate public faculties’ free speech and antisemitism insurance policies, two hot-button points for education-focused lawmakers. Final month, Abbott addressed each subjects in an govt order directing faculties to replace their insurance policies to deal with antisemitism on campus, although one free expression group mentioned it may chill campus speech.
The lieutenant governor left open the opportunity of issuing additional directives earlier than the subsequent legislative session begins in January.
