We are at a critical point with Senate Bill 37, the “Death Star” bill for higher education. It’s currently pending in the House Higher Education Committee, with a little over a week until the deadline to pass it from committee. Since SB 37 was filed on March 14, our higher education members have been in the Capitol almost every day to educate legislators on the importance of academic freedom and true shared governance, as well as what’s really going on in our classrooms.
Since then, the bill has undergone a lot of changes — for better (if only slightly) or for worse. During the May 6 House hearing, the last time SB 37 will have a public hearing before it could head to the floor, the House Higher Education Committee presented a House committee substitute, or a new version of the bill that committee members claimed solved many issues within the Senate’s version. We disagree.
Even in its “improved” version, SB 37 is still a threat to the foundation of what makes Texas higher education great. Curriculum would still be under the control of appointed boards, faculty would still be stripped of their due process rights, and faculty councils would no longer be true representative bodies. We oppose any version of SB 37, because we know that the bill, in any form, is dangerous to public education.
On Thursday, May 15, faculty members, students, K-12 advocates, and community leaders joined together in a Capitol press conference to tell our lawmakers: “Hands Off Higher Ed!” Speakers from Texas AAUP-AFT, Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT), the Austin Council of PTAs, and more expressed their adamant opposition to SB 37, highlighting the impacts on the freedom to teach, the freedom to learn, and how it will prevent all students, from pre-K through graduate school, from accessing the quality education they deserve.
Jaime Cantu, a faculty senate member at Austin Community College, pointed out the flawed core of SB 37: It assumes faculty work in bad faith, and in its attempt to undermine faculty, the bill also will undermine our students’ education.
“We want the best for our students. We are preparing the next generation of architects, educators, nurses, [and] scientists, and that requires that hiring, curriculum, and academic decisions be grounded in expertise, not politics,” Cantu said. “As faculty, we’re not trying to run the institution; we’re trying to make sure it serves students well. When you cut faculty out of decision-making, you cut out the very people who know what students need to thrive.”
Students also showed up to prove to lawmakers that they are not afraid of engaging in difficult conversations or discourse. In fact, they welcome it. It’s what shapes them into well-rounded adults.
“Students have a right to learn — not just the good, but the bad and the ugly of our country’s history. Our strength as a nation has never come from hiding our flaws, but from confronting them. Growth requires reflection. And reflection requires truth — not censorship,” said Aihanuwa Ale-Opinion, a SEAT student organizer at the University of Houston. “If we truly value these freedoms, then we must reject SB 37. Because this bill isn’t about protecting education — it’s about controlling it. It is about silencing faculty, handpicking who gets to teach, and restricting what students are allowed to know. We don’t need state-approved history or politically sanitized classrooms. We need truth, and the courage to confront uncomfortable realities.”
With the bill still pending, there is time left to stop it in its tracks. Our advocacy has proven to be effective, and we need to keep the pressure on to make sure SB 37 doesn’t make it out of committee. Take a few minutes today to email members of the House Higher Education Committee and tell them to vote NO on any version of SB 37.