Jan. 24, 2025: Ready to Work

Publish Date: January 26, 2025 4:45 pm
Author: Texas AFT


Header reads: Texas A-F-T. The Hotline.

Friday, Jan. 24, 2025








Leaders from Texas AFT K-12 and higher education local unions statewide visited legislators’ offices last week on the opening day of the 89th Legislature. In conversations with lawmakers and staff, they discussed the pressing need to pass our Educator’s Bill of Rights and fully fund our public schools.  


Ready to Work 

The 89th Legislature is just over one week old, and already, there is much to discuss about lawmakers’ emerging priorities and how public schools will fare. We’ll get into that in this week’s Hotline, but first, we want to make our own position clear.

We’re ready to work with any lawmaker who’s willing to prioritize our public schools and everyone who works and learns inside of them.  

As Texas AFT President Zeph Capo said last week in a message to lawmakers:

“It’s more important than ever to come together and focus on what unites us: the well-being of our communities, the success of our children, and our future workforce.

Teachers and support staff are the backbone of our education system, and ensuring that they are equipped, supported, and valued is essential not only for their success but for the future of our children and our communities. We’re excited to work together with legislators as well as educators, parents, and community leaders, to support teachers, strengthen our education system, and deliver a brighter future for all Texas students.”


In this week’s Hotline: 

  • What you need to know from week 2 of this Legislature
  • Pay raise bills! Pay raise bills!
  • Preview of next week’s SBOE meeting
  • Join our testifier training next week! 


— Texas Legislature


We are just over one week into the 89th Legislature and things are beginning to move. As we continue to advocate for the important bills supporting our Educator’s Bill of Rights, we are also watching the following developments: 

  1. House, Senate Budget Proposals 
  2. Senate Voucher Bill  
  3. House Rules Approved 

Head to the full story online to get the breakdown. 


— Educator’s Bill of Rights


Mass layoffs, school closures, and growing budget deficits continue to be the norm for Texas public schools. This is the price we pay for the Legislature’s failed bid in 2023 to pass a private school voucher program, a fruitless quest that killed a badly needed public school funding package in the process.

The 89th legislative session officially began last Tuesday, Jan. 14, and Texas AFT continued to advocate for our members’ needs. Our 2024 membership survey revealed that 68% of K-12 educators have considered leaving their jobs in the last year. When asked what could convince them to stay, just under 53% cited pay increases as their top response. This is why the “Right to Fair Wages” is a central part of our Educator Bill of Rights, and we wanted to provide an update on  how that right is faring so far in this new legislative session.



— State Board of Education


The State Board of Education will convene for its first meeting of 2025 next week in Austin beginning Tuesday, Jan. 28, at 11 a.m. CT.  The agenda is less politically charged than the last few meetings, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be closely monitoring certain items.

January brings three new faces to the board room as a result of the November 2024 election cycle including two AFT-endorsed candidates.



— Event


The most powerful evidence in the Legislature is your story, the people who write education policy need to hear directly from the Texans who work in this state’s classrooms, school buses, and school buildings. To win our union’s Educator’s Bill of Rights, we need as many members as possible sharing their voices at the Capitol during this legislative session. 

Join one of our upcoming training sessions to learn the ins and outs of testifying at the Capitol. At the end of the session, we’ll help you schedule a date to testify this spring! RSVP on Mobilize here. 



Recommended Reading

Education news from around the state and nation that’s worth your time.

📖 Summer food assistance program in limbo partly because Texas missed federal deadline to apply. It’s a possibility that thousands of Texas families who need it may miss out on vital summer food assistance. That’s partly because the state missed a federal deadline to apply for the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer program, but there is still another chance to apply. (KTRK, Jan. 16)  

 

📖 As public colleges begin to merge or shut down, one state shows how hard it is. While much attention has been focused on how enrollment declines are putting private, nonprofit colleges out of business at an accelerating rate — at least 17 of them in 2024 — public universities and colleges are facing their own existential crises. (The Hechinger Report, Jan. 14)  

 

📖 ‘Life-or-death consequences’: families fear rollback of school vaccine requirements under RFK Jr. Currently, all 50 states have vaccine requirements for children entering childcare and schools. But with Robert F Kennedy Jr. potentially at the helm of the Department of Health and Human Services, advocates and parents are right to fear a rollback of requirements, enforcement and funding, according to interviews with about a dozen experts. (The Guardian, Jan. 16)  



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