The religious right is continuing its crusade to decimate public education in Texas. In 2021, the Texas Legislature passed a bill that whitewashed and censored the past and present of Black and Brown communities, LGBTQIA+ people, women, and anyone who doesn’t fit into their narrow view of acceptance. Since then, we have seen a barrage of attacks on public education at local school boards, libraries, the State Board of Education, and more.

One of the few bright spots this session: Gov. Abbott’s school voucher scheme — which would take our tax dollars out of public schools to fund tuition at exclusive, unregulated private schools — failed to make it through.

What did make it through, though, is a bill that would ban or censor library books that cover topics right-wing extremists don’t like. Higher ed wasn’t immune from attacks either, with bills that would ban diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and discourage progress and innovation by limiting tenure.

Bills headed to the governor:

• HB 900: Restricts materials in public school libraries by creating a vague and undefined rating system with multiple levels of review by several state agencies, putting us at risk for discrimination against diverse history and cultures. The bureaucracy and red tape would also add enormous costs to already struggling local and state government budgets.
• SB 17: Effectively bans diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts at universities.
• SB 18: While no longer a total public university tenure ban, it severely limits and puts researchers and intellectuals at risk of discrimination and retaliation.

Bills that died:

• SB 8: Would have created a costly voucher program that would steal money from our public schools to subsidize tuition at unregulated and unaccountable private and religious schools.
• HB 100: A multi-billion-dollar school funding bill designed to give teachers modest raises that the Senate Committee on Education amended to include SB 8’s voucher program. Read our statement.
• SB 13: Would have created “school library advisory councils” to ensure “local community values are reflected in each school library catalog.” Would allow parents and guardians to sign up to receive notice of what library materials their child checks out.
• HB 890: A previously bipartisan-supported bill related to the adoption of processes for school districts to hear and handle complaints. The Senate snuck in a “Don’t Say Gay/Transgender” provision that would prohibit “instruction, guidance, activities, or programming regarding sexual orientation or gender identity” for students at every grade level. Read our statement.