Texas Higher Education Faces Controversial Changes

The fate of tenure for Texas public university professors is poised to be decided through last-minute negotiations after the House and Senate have each thrown their support behind dramatically different proposals. The Senate voted to eliminate tenure altogether, while the House gave preliminary approval to an overhauled version of the bill that instead enshrines tenure policies in state law. Faculty and other opponents have criticized both versions of the bill, arguing that while the House option is better than the Senate proposal, it would still make it difficult to recruit and retain top faculty who help the state’s universities rise in prestige and national rankings.