Working 9-5
What to know: Professors at Texas A&M-Victoria are outraged by an “abrupt policy change” that requires all full-time faculty to spend 40 hours a week on campus, as dictated by Senate Bill 2615, passed last legislative session.
The TPPF take: It wasn’t that abrupt. Senate Bill 2615 passed the Texas Legislature on May 30, 2025.
“When the Higher Education Reform Bill (SB 37) was passed in 2023, the AAUP predicted it would cause a giant “brain drain” in state universities, because professors would leave. They didn’t,” says TPPF’s Sherry Sylvester. “In 2021, the AAUP predicted nobody would teach in Texas after the anti-DEI Bill (SB 17) passed. They also said students wouldn’t want to come to Texas—but college enrollment is up across the state, and university leaders told the Senate Higher Education Committee earlier this summer that there has been no exodus of faculty.”
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School’s In
What to know: Texas got a step closer to adopting high school social studies standards that tie Islam to violence Tuesday.
The TPPF take: The state of Texas has a legitimate interest in ensuring transparency in education, preventing foreign influence in classrooms, and safeguarding students from political or ideological indoctrination
“Texas schools should be places where children learn the truth, not places where foreign interests get to shape what they think,” says TPPF’s Kate Bierly. “When foreign governments or organizations fund curriculum, teacher training, or educational programs, they can gain access to our classrooms and influence children at an incredibly formative age.”
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Robbing Peter
What to know: Conroe ISD trustees approved a lower tax rate for 2027, but the district faces a $6.2 million shortfall in its debt service fund, which district officials say will likely require a tax rate increase in 2028.
The TPPF take: Most people understand that you shouldn’t spend more than you make. But many independent school districts (ISDs) don’t seem to have gotten the message.
“As you might imagine, there are worrisome possibilities that might result from letting the government spend more than their income. Chiefly, higher taxes and bloated government,” says TPPF’s James Quintero. “Interestingly, the rash of unbalanced budgets doesn’t seem to be concentrated in any particular part of the state, but rather, it appears to be a widespread phenomenon.”