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...

***Free and open to the public. Please circulate widely.***

Please join us at a Freedom School panel discussion on Tuesday, February 15th, 6:00pm to discuss Seguín High School (pseudonym) featured in Subtractive Schooling: U.S. - Mexican Youth and the Politics of Caring

and Molina High School (pseudonym) featured in Dr. Marnie Curry's recently published book, Authentic Cariño: Transformative Schooling for Latinx Youth that I encourage you to buy. To prepare for this conversation, you can also download and read this summary of Subtractive Schooling [pdf] from researchgate.net.

Dr. Curry's ethnography of a school in a northern California school provides a rich counter-narrative to the subtractive schooling experiences observed at Seguín High School in Houston, Texas. She also provides an elegant framework that she terms, "authentic cariño" that provides conceptual, theoretical, and empirical depth to the concept of authentic caring.

Click the link to register for the panel discussion: https://rutgers.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_fd1JYPnDSmCWSX_jDKOxCA

Thanks to Rutgers University Professor Dr. Charles Payne, Jamelia Harris, and Ahmad Watson for organizing this.

-Angela Valenzuela

A Fresh Look at Authentic Caring: Transformative Schooling of Latinx Youth, by Drs. Marnie Curry and Angela Valenzuela ***Free and open to the public. Please circulate widely.*** Please join us at a Freedom School panel discussion on Tuesday, February 15 th...

It was beyond interesting having a front-row seat on the brouhaha that took place at our university just before Thanksgiving last month involving UT College of Education researchers regarding an American Enterprise Institute (AEI)-inspired attempt to pause legitimate, well-designed research because its exclusive focus was on white children and caregivers.

Elaborated more fully in the Texas Tribune piece authored by Kate McGee appearing below, this attempt exposes an ultra-conservative agenda that involves AEI fellow and University of Michigan-Flint professor, Dr. Mark Perry, "who has filed hundreds of complaints with the OCR against universities that he believes are violating federal policies."

Not only would this attempt to thwart sound research violate Academic Freedom in higher education, but had the AEI succeeded, it would have set a terrible precedent at our university on anti-racist research.

On the heels of anti-CRT Senate Bill 3 that focuses exclusively on K-12 education, I see this as an opening volley against our social justice work in higher education about which we should all not only be vigilant, but vigorously oppose. The university ultimately did the right thing in lifting the "pause" to credible research that the university itself is funding by people who have nothing better to do than intimidate researchers asking important questions that help fill much-needed gaps in scholarship.

May this be a lesson to other scholars getting similarly targeted. Do not give in to these white supremacist obstructionists. I'm proud of our swift response and trust that we will continue to address such baseless complaints as they surface. Stated differently, not responding means caving in to our freedom of expression and Academic Freedom that should never be compromised. Never.

-Angela Valenzuela

UT-Austin professors criticize university for halting antiracism study with preschoolers It was beyond interesting having a front-row seat on the brouhaha that took place at our university just before Thanksgiving last month inv...

Many of us already teach this at UT, myself included. What a struggle this year has been however, in the shadow of the Texas State Legislature.

Oregon university student government wants critical race theory graduation 'requirement' Now is a time to redouble our insistence on not just the teaching of Critical Race Theory, but all curricula, including Ethnic Studies, that...

How Staff Shortages Are Crushing Schools, by Mark Leiberman in Edweek—Oct. 15, 2021 Across the nation right now, w e are experiencing a staff and teacher shortage in K-12 education captured succinctly, as per these key quote...

Students and colleagues: I invite you to read this post and my comments on the racialization of the Asian American community in the U.S.

"The Myth of Asian American Identity," by Jay Caspian Kang Do read this excellent, highly personal, angst-filled reflection on Asian American identity—particularly for the upwardly mobile Asian Ameri...

How George I. Sánchez helped dismantle Texas’ segregated schools for Latinos It's so important for us to remember the many sacrifices of our ancestors like the legendary Dr. George I. Sanchez who dedicated his life to...

"University of Texas hits record undergraduate Hispanic student enrollment," by Megan Menchaca This is historic. The University of Texas at Austin is now an "Hispanic Serving Institution," or simply, an "HSI." HSI's are the federally-d...

INVITATION: 11th [Virtual] Conference on Education and Justice, Sept. 17-18, 2021 I and many other scholars are presenting at the wonderful and timely social justice conference organized by esteemed scholar advocate Dr. Ke...

Texas Education Review. SPECIAL ISSUE: TEXAS 87TH LEGISLATURE* I am so very proud of our University of Texas College of Education doctoral and masters students for this important special issue of the Tex...