Republicans are remaking Texas’ public universities. Some professors are leaving ... and more news

0:00This is the Dallas Morning News. It's Monday, March 23rd, a mix of sun and clouds and a bit on the windy side today with a high of 80. The clouds will stick around this evening with a low of 61. Now that will be a bit of a relief after a decade's old record was broken on Sunday with a high of 95 reached as DFW Airport. That was two degrees higher than the record that was set in 1934 and equaled in 1995. That relief will be brief though with temperatures soaring back into the 90s by midweek. Here are today's headlines. For years, Texas' public universities have been hot spots for the state's larger culture wars from debates over DEI programs to free expression. Now under increasing pressure from state leaders to address a perceived liberal bias in the classroom, campuses are ensnared in battles over the very purpose of higher education.

1:00The fight often between academics and Republican leaders is not just impacting what can be taught in classrooms, but who remains to teach it. For some, these professors' career-changing decisions warn of a brain drain, a mass exodus of Texas' most intellectually capable. The result could be years of tumultuous recruitment and retention of educators and researchers. Democrats and professors have warned that an exodus of the best and brightest faculty would weaken the caliber of education offered at state universities, threatened Texas' cutting-edge research, and undercut student's workforce readiness. Supporters of higher education reform have pushed back on such predictions, arguing that addressing ideological biases and aligning universities with workforce needs will attract more professors, students, and jobs to Texas. In other news, a federal judge ruled last week that Texas must make its new education savings account program available to a number of Islamic schools in the state after several

2:06alleged in a lawsuit they were shut out of the voucher-like program. At least three North Texas-affiliated schools have now been approved to participate in the program, according to school representatives and the Texas controllers list of participating locations. Similar to Christian private schools and Jewish day schools, Islamic private schools provide early learning or K-12 education alongside religious instruction, moral teaching, and Muslim values. That's according to Mustafa Carroll, the interim executive director of the DFW office of the Council on American Islamic Relations, or CARE. Islamic education can include Quranic studies and recitation as well as curriculum on Islamic principles. Carroll said that none of those principles are antithetical to the United States. In January, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an opinion saying the controller's office, which oversees the program, may block schools from participating based on political

3:06affiliations. The acting controller Kelly Hancock had requested the opinion on whether to exclude schools based on alleged ties to CARE, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights advocacy organization. Governor Greg Abbott issued a proclamation in November that designated CARE as a far in terrorist organization. CARE has vehemently denied the designation and is suing over it. Following a federal lawsuit filed by Muslim parents and schools, a court order issued Tuesday extended the application deadline to March 31 for the new education savings account program. The order issued by district judge Alfred Bennett in the Southern District of Texas also compelled the state to make the school application available to Muslim schools participating in the lawsuit. The order does not make the state accept the schools, only to consider them for admission. Next up, a 79-year-old man was identified as the person killed Saturday morning after

4:08a loose wheel from another vehicle struck his car on the highway in Dallas. Richard Hood Dunham died at the scene. The crash occurred in the northbound express lanes of Interstate 35E near 8th Street, according to a previous statement from the Dallas County Sheriff's Office. Investigators said a Chevrolet Tahoe traveling southbound lost a wheel, the detached wheel crossed into the northbound express lanes, and struck Dunham's vehicle killing him. No further details about the accident were immediately available. If for the fifth consecutive season, the Dallas stars are heading to the Stanley Cup playoffs. Dallas officially clinched its spot on Sunday night with the Utah Mammoth beating the LA Kings in overtime. The stars are the second team in the NHL to land a playoff spot, joining their Central Division rival Colorado Avalanche. Dallas had a chance to seal their birth with a point earlier on Sunday against the Vegas Golden Knights, but lost three, two in regulation, necessitating some help from Utah to clinch.

5:12The only playoff mystery left for the stars to solve over the final few weeks is their seating. If Dallas fails to catch Colorado in the Central Division standings, it likely will face Minnesota in the first round of the playoffs. Tracking down the Avalanche in the standings could give Dallas home ice advantage throughout the playoffs, given the fact that Dallas and Colorado currently have the two best point totals in the NHL. Thanks for listening for more on today's stories and the latest breaking news, visit DallasNews.com. Enjoy your day, and I'll be back tomorrow with more from the Dallas Morning News.