Texas bill targets woke college courses, empowers public to report indoctrination

The Texas Senate is moving forward with a bill that could reshape how public universities teach topics like race, gender, and American history, putting direct pressure on administrators to eliminate ideologically biased content from the classroom.

Senate Bill 37, introduced by State Sen. Brandon Creighton, advanced out of committee on April 8. 

If passed, the legislation would allow any individual to file a complaint against university courses perceived to promote politically charged ideologies such as systemic racism, white privilege, or gender theory. 

The state would then have the authority to investigate and potentially penalize institutions that fail to comply.

The bill also mandates that university boards of regents closely review course offerings and teaching practices, and it creates a new ombudsman position empowered to oversee and investigate curriculum violations. Universities could face funding consequences if they continue to offer content deemed in violation of the law.

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Supporters say the bill is necessary to bring accountability and transparency to higher education. 

Sen. Creighton defended the bill in a statement, saying that “For too long, unelected faculty senates have operated behind closed doors, steering curriculum decisions, influencing institutional policy, issuing political statements to divest from Israel, and even organizing votes of ‘no confidence’ that undermine public trust.”

Faculty and left-leaning advocacy groups say that the bill represents government censorship. 

Professors at a recent Senate hearing claimed the law would prevent them from teaching subjects such as slavery, civil rights, or LGBTQ history without fear of punishment.

“If this is enforced, students will learn less about the world,” asserted David Albert, a vice president for the Texas Conference of the American Association of University Professors. “They will learn a more rose-colored glasses view of the way society operates.”

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SB 37 follows a national wave of legislation modeled after Florida’s Stop WOKE Act, which similarly bans public institutions from promoting divisive concepts in training or instruction. It also mirrors recent Republican efforts to defund Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs in public universities. 

States like Florida, Iowa, and North Carolina have passed or proposed similar measures in the past year.

If signed into law, the measure would further require public universities to make class syllabi and instructional materials publicly available, allowing taxpayers to see exactly what is being taught.