UT Austin Educational Policy and Planning Program

Hispanics are now largest demographic group in Texas: Census This blog on Texas education contains posts on accountability, testing, K-12 education, postsecondary educational attainment, dropouts, bilingual education, immigration, school finance, environmental issues, Ethnic Studies at state and national levels. It also represents my digital footprint, of lif...

Such a beautiful, heartfelt statement on the senseless, horrifically violent shooting of Uvalde's children and their teachers attending Robb Elementary School by our College of Education leadership at the University of Texas at Austin. This New York Post piece offers affectionate detail on who these children and teachers were before their lives were cut tragically short: Texas school shooting: What we know about the victims.

National LULAC is also sponsoring a fundraiser to cover the funerals of all the children. 100% will go directly to the families of both victims and survivors.

-Angela Valenzuela

Beautiful, heartfelt statement on the Uvalde Elementary School Shooting by our College of Education leadership at UT Austin Such a beautiful, heartfelt statement on the senseless, horrifically violent shooting of Uvalde's children and their teachers attending Robb...

We must respond to this vigorously, including insisting that our university leaders do so, as well. Let me share a rule-of-thumb in policy and politics: When things get political, we have to get more political.

As we address this, I urge us not to give any ground on post-tenure reviews as it could easily become a slippery slope, session after session, an ongoing rallying cry on the right.

Pay attention, as well to Senate Higher Education Committee Chair Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe), who proposed a bill during last legislative session that would have required post-tenure reviews for all already tenured faculty every four years. These could easily can become three-, two- and then a one-year, regular annual reviews.

This scenario—or perhaps even the four-year proposed model—is not only tantamount to taking tenure down, but what a bureaucratic burden this will create, multiplying administrators' work, and in so doing, weakening all of our colleges and universities at a time when they need enormous help just to stay afloat.

Plus, hey, we're still in a pandemic and we have so many other needs right now, including addressing a growing need for mental health services, addressing student debt and financial aid, to name a few. Where is Patrick leading on this crisis that we're actually currently in?

AAUP President Irene Mulvey aptly characterizes herein the profound implications of this attack on higher education as follows:

“There’s always been attempts to interfere in higher education, but I have never seen anything as egregious as this attack,” said Irene Mulvey, president of the AAUP. “This is an attempt to have government control of scholarship and teaching. That is a complete disaster. I’ve never seen anything this bad.”

This move will indeed undermine the state’s future.

It's hard not to consider whether this is not the actual intention. And if so, why such passion around demonizing public K-12 and higher education? Why such passion around burning down bridges instead of building them? Censoring books and curriculum is not only backwards but an untenable proposition in a context of today's knowledge explosion that is only a click away for us all.

It's also a disservice to our youth to deprive them of theoretical knowledge, such as that provided by CRT and numerous other frameworks. Unlike animals that operate out of instinct, as human beings we need theoretical frameworks or knowledge that help us understand ourselves in relationship to, as well as with, each other and the universe, as a whole. This is what a comprehensive, well-conceived educational system provides, that is, a sense of one's self in relation to all that exists where freedom and responsibility are two sides to the same coin.

Why are we at war with ourselves in this state and what are the many costs— especially the opportunity costs—of this war?

-Angela Valenzuela

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick proposes ending university tenure to combat critical race theory teachings We must respond to this vigorously, including insisting that our university leaders do so, as well. Let me share a rule-of-thumb in policy a...