Houston Chron Round-Up: Higher Ed preferred target of budget cuts, “godless, left-wing radicals” in the university

Two important pieces in today’s Chron:

• According to a recent poll, Higher Ed was the preferred target for budget cuts, out of a list of options that included cuts to K-12; “no cuts,” however, was equally popular at 28%
• According to the Chron’s Texas Politics blog, State Board of Ed member Don McLeroy addressed a Tea Party group in Bastrop, and warned of “godless left-wing radicals” who have taken over the government and universities.  Here’s McLeroy’s characterization of college teaching of American history:

Sadly, instead of teaching our children historical facts, many professors indoctrinate them in the social history of race, class, and gender. And, if they teach the Constitution, the Declaration, and the arguments of the Federalist Papers at all, they teach they are obsolete,” McLeroy complained.

McLeroy had been Chairman of the Board that most recently rewrote the Texas social studies curriculum, and lost a reelection bid in a Republican primary to Thomas Ratliff.

Higher Ed Round-up: from this week’s Houston Chronicle

Here are a few items of interest:

–Rick Casey, in his Sunday column, had an excellent discussion of the ten-percent rule, and its implications for prospective college students across the state.  Find it here.

–It’s conventional wisdom among college administrators and faculty that colleges want their students living and studying on campus. Sociologist Ruth Lopez Turley, now at Rice, is examining more closely the effects of residential living on students at a wide variety of schools, and finding the effect is not as dramatic as you might expect.  Read her interview with Jeannie Kever here.

–Another piece from Jeannie Kever, this time on Texas universities’ efforts to improve their 4-year graduation rates.  The UH CTE seems to be briefly alluded to as a “faculty led effort to improve teaching.”  Find it here.

DM