Thomas Jefferson—author of the Declaration of Independence, our third president, and the founder of the University of Virginia—believed deeply in the power of education to serve a free society. For him, a university was not merely a place to learn facts—it was a training ground for citizens and leaders, guided by reason, liberty, and the pursuit...
In 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court rendered an infamous decision, Dred Scott v. Sandford. By declaring that Black Americans could never be citizens and stripping Congress of the power to restrict slavery in the territories, Chief Justice Taney both misinterpreted the Constitution and kindled a conflagration. Abraham Lincoln, still years away from the presidency, saw...
In 1790, George Washington wrote to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, to present his vision for America as a country where “bigotry finds no sanction” and “persecution no assistance.” He celebrated a nation where all citizens, including the “Children of the Stock of Abraham,” could dwell securely under their own “vine and fig tree,” free...
For years, would-be higher-education reformers have warned that America’s higher education crisis—soaring tuition, crippling student debt, and weak learning—was rooted in a dangerous myth: every high school graduate should go to college. In 2025, the proof is glaring. Public confidence in colleges has crashed to 36%, down from 57% in 2015. The college-for-all dream, though well-intentioned, has inflated...
The Texas Legislature is currently considering renewing its 2017 call to Congress to invoke Article V of the U.S. Constitution to propose amendments curbing federal overreach. The Article V effort seeks to restore federalism and individual liberty, requiring thirty-four states to call a convention and thirty-eight to ratify changes. To date, 19 states have passed resolutions calling for an...
OPINION: Texas clings to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges like a relic of the past. It’s time for flexibility and competition. Texas stands at a crossroads with two companion bills winding their way through the Lone Star Statehouse that aim to reform accreditation by allowing public institutions to choose from...
A recent op ed in the Austin American-Statesman voiced substantial objections to Texas Senate Bill 37. It contends that the bill imposes redundant bureaucracy via the Office of Excellence in Higher Education, diminishes faculty governance by restricting faculty senates to tenured members and requiring half to be elected, curtails student academic options by eliminating low-enrollment...
For years, I’ve warned that college grade inflation is real, rampant, and ravaging a university near you. It is a cancer eating away at American higher education, undermining academic standards, devaluing transcripts, and cheating students and employers alike. My research has tracked this crisis over the last decade, and the evidence is stark: what was...
Recently, The University of Texas System’s Board of Regents enhanced its free speech policy for all its member schools. No longer will Texas public universities be able to offer official political statements on matters that only tangentially affect their campuses. The new policy announces that it is not “the role of the UT System or...
Texas has instituted an historic education effort to rescue its students from lackluster learning. “Lackluster” may be a euphemism, hiding the frightening reality that the majority of Texas K-12 students are not reading at grade-level. In response, Texas approved the Open Education Resources (OER) project, which will provide free, online, high-quality instructional materials to Texas...
“These Trump supporters say America isn’t a democracy. And they’re okay with it.” So reads the breathless headline from a story last week by CNN. Apparently, CNN thinks that this view is anathema to the American way of life. But a closer look reveals the truth about what America was founded to be. It also...
Texas is on the cusp of implementing historic reforms that could prove to be the most significant improvements in education in the state’s history. Last year, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 1605, which, in part, required the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to develop high quality instructional materials and provide them at no cost to...