A newly filed measure would prohibit public universities from granting tenure or any type of permanent employment status. However, it would not affect faculty awarded tenure before September 1, 2025.
The legislation, House Bill 1830, was filed by State Rep. Matt Shaheen (R-Plano).
The measure states that boards of regents would still be allowed to establish an alternative system of tiered employment status, as long as every faculty member undergoes an annual performance evaluation.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has advocated for eliminating tenure since 2022, arguing that tenured leftist professors are poisoning the minds of the next generation and must not be shielded behind claims of “academic freedom.”
Patrick suggested that the legislation should include statutes that define teaching critical race theory as cause for the termination of a tenured professor.
In April 2024, Patrick released another set of directives for the former Senate Higher Education Subcommittee which included monitoring the implementation of the current tenure law.
Under current law, a university system’s chancellor and a higher education governing board may grant tenure. However, the law requires tenured faculty to undergo performance evaluations at least once every six years, and it includes provisions for dismissing faculty for “professional incompetence” or “conduct involving moral turpitude.”
Thomas K. Lindsay, a distinguished senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, said an additional improvement to the law would be to implement 3-year contracts for incoming faculty, which could then increase to five-year contracts.
“With successful performance, the faculty member’s contract would be for five-year increments throughout the professor’s career at the Texas public university,” Lindsay told Texas Scorecard.
The current law, Senate Bill 18, is a weakened version of the original legislation filed by State Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe). It sought to abolish tenure entirely.
While Texas and other states have weakened tenure protections, none have successfully passed a ban on tenure.