Happy Wednesday!

This week, you’ll hear from a Texas A&M professor whose ethics course was canceled days into the semester because of a new university policy that restricts discussions of race and gender in the classroom. This is just one in a long string of attacks on academic freedom at the university over the last few months.

You’ll also find an update on the ongoing legal fight over Senate Bill 10, Texas’ new law that went into effect last year and requires that the Christian Ten Commandments be displayed in public school classrooms.

If you missed last week’s edition, check it out here.

Let’s get into it!

Katie Serrano

DFW Political Correspondent, COURIER Texas

How Texas A&M became ground zero for higher education’s culture war

Photo by Harsha Vardhan Reddy via Shutterstock

Dr. Leonard Bright became a professor for a simple reason: “Teaching is important.”

“We have the ear of the next generation,” Bright, a Texas A&M University professor of 15 years, told COURIER Texas. “We are in a place to help mold the future. How we do that will affect democracy itself.”

Bright taught a graduate-level Ethics and Public Policy course at Texas A&M for six years until last week. His class was canceled three days into this semester after the university claimed he did not submit an exemption request for a new policy that bans “advocating for race and gender” in the classroom.

Bright said that claim is “patently false,” and told the Bush School of Government and Public Service that “issues of race, gender, and sexuality are not peripheral, but integral,” to his class.

“This is ethics, how do you talk about ethics and not talk about the characteristics of people? That’s what ethics is about, how we treat people,” he said. “And who are people but our identities? We’re discussing that in class, not changing a student’s viewpoint.”

Appeals court hears oral arguments against Texas Ten Commandments law

Photo by Associated Press

The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which is dominated by conservatives, heard arguments on Tuesday in Rabbi Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District, a lawsuit challenging Senate Bill 10.

The new Texas law went into effect on Sept. 1 and requires public schools to display posters of the Ten Commandments in classrooms.

In July, sixteen families represented by civil rights organizations sued 11 school districts to block the bill. US District Judge Fred Biery sided with the plaintiffs, blocking the law from taking effect in the districts named in the lawsuit: Alamo Heights, North East, Lackland, Northside, Austin, Lake Travis, Dripping Springs, Houston, Fort Bend, Cypress-Fairbanks, and Plano.

But after the ruling, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asked the 5th Circuit Court to overturn Biery’s ruling and allow all 17 active judges on the court to hear the case.

The plaintiffs are now awaiting the court’s decision, and The TexEd Report will be following along closely.

See testimony from the hearing below:

🎓UNT offers free tuition for some students: The University of North Texas recently announced its NorthTexas Promise Program that it will cover full tuition and mandatory fees for incoming freshmen from Texas families earning $100,000 or less starting in Fall 2026. (The Texas Tribune)

📚Texas Education Board set to vote on statewide required reading list: The Texas Education Agency has compiled a list of over 10,000 titles from various states, institutions, and organizations, and cross-referenced them in a survey of 5,700 Texas teachers for a statewide required reading list that the State Board of Education will now vote to approve. (KTRH)

🏫Houston private schools dominate school voucher program: The Houston region has the highest number of private schools approved to participate in the first year of Texas’ $1 billion school voucher program, according to figures shared by the Texas comptroller’s office. (KHOU)

During the month of January, we’re reading “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,” by Benjamin Alire Sáenz. This coming-of-age novel was banned in Nacogdoches ISD in March 2025 and follows the friendship between two Mexican-American teenagers.

Here’s a third batch of questions to help guide you as you read:

1. How does Ari begin to confront his feelings about Dante? What internal conflicts does he face?

2. How does Ari’s relationship with his family evolve toward the end of the book?

3. How might this story’s events feel different if the setting were outside of El Paso, Texas, or if the cultural backdrop was less diverse?

Send me your responses

Would you recommend this newsletter to your friends and family?

Do you or your company want to support The TexEd Report’s mission and reach your audience in Texas?

Contact advertise@couriernewsroom.com for more information.

Thanks for reading. This newsletter was written by Katie Serrano. The TexEd Report is happily free to read for everyone. Your financial support means a lot to us. Donate here.

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get upcoming newsletters in your inbox.

Send your feedback and news tips to katieserrano@couriernewsroom.com.