On June 4, 2025, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) sent a letter urging Texas Governor Abbott to veto Senate Bill 12 and Senate Bill 37, two restrictive bills in K-12 and higher education recently passed by the State legislature. In the letter, LDF Director of Strategic Initiatives Jin Hee Lee cites grave concerns that the bills will cause serious harm to Black students and educators in the state.
Senate Bill 12 is an omnibus bill that, among other factors, prohibits “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” in Texas’ public K-12 schools. The letter highlights the dangerous implications of the bill’s mischaracterization of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion practices. It further warns that the bill will erect additional barriers for Texas’ public schools to ensure equal opportunity for Black students and other students of color in compliance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Senate Bill 37 is an omnibus bill that, among other factors, transfers curriculum authority from faculty to politically-appointed governing boards, converts elected faculty senate positions into appointed positions, and strips faculty of their due process rights during the disciplinary process. The letter cites the discriminatory impact the bill may have on Black students and professors and potential restrictions on the teaching of Black history, Black culture, and issues of systemic inequalities.
“LDF respectfully urges you to veto Senate Bills 12 and 37,” the letter reads in part. “The prohibition of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives is unnecessary and will cause disproportionate harm to people of color, including Black students and faculty. Moreover, transferring curriculum authority from expert faculty to political appointees jeopardizes important scholarship that may be politically disfavored, thus undermining the quality and integrity of Texas’ higher education.”
LDF has been deeply involved in advocacy at the state and federal levels to ensure equal opportunity in education, including litigation that led to the Supreme Court’s seminal ruling in Brown v. Board.
Read the full letter.
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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation’s first civil rights law organization. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Please note that LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957—although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights.
