New Group Will Challenge Texas Governor Over Plans for Higher Education

In a move aimed at Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and his controversial initiatives to remake higher education in the Lone Star State, a high-powered group of more than 200 former regents, chancellors, and presidents, along with Democratic and Republican politicians, professors, and others, announced today the formation of the Texas Coalition for Excellence in Higher Education, which described itself as “supporting the highest quality research and teaching at Texas public universities,” as well as “a more thoughtful and transparent discussion of ways to strengthen and improve, rather than undermine, them.” Governor Perry, a Republican, and his appointees on the boards of the University of Texas and Texas A&M University have pushed a series of proposals that, among other things, question faculty productivity, doubt the value of academic research, call for big enrollment increases, and advocate sharp cuts in tuition.