In an exceptionally long and fraught January, here’s a glimmer of good news. This week, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its annual report on union density in the country, showing that the number of Texas union members is the highest it’s been in 10 years and has been steadily growing since 2021.
Whether you’re a teacher, firefighter, farm worker, actor, public employee, nurse, construction worker, or any other profession — joining a union is your right. Nothing about Texas’s status as a “right to work” state prevents union organizing, and unions are at historic levels of popularity in polls. The rise in Texas union membership reflects that popularity.
“The number of Texas union members is the highest it’s been in 10 years, and that’s for a good reason,” said Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy. “Texas workers are learning that unions are the clearest path to improving their lives, and they’re organizing to demand fair treatment, better wages, and respect on the job. The Texas AFL-CIO will continue to fight for all workers in Texas.”
Have you talked to a co-worker about joining your union? Now’s the time!
In this week’s Hotline:
This week in the #TxLege: the first voucher hearing of the session
What the recent immigration orders mean for our schools
Bills to watch on Texas educator retirement
Parents & educators 🤝 working together on school funding
The Trump Administration has revoked long-standing sensitive location protections, allowing U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to arrest undocumented individuals on the grounds of schools, churches, and hospitals without prior approval. This move marks a drastic shift from policies in place since 2011, which aimed to protect access to essential services without fear of immigration enforcement.
The rollback is part of President Donald Trump’s broader agenda to expand immigration enforcement and speed up deportations. Previously, ICE needed supervisory approval to conduct arrests at these locations, except in extreme cases. Now, arrests can happen without restriction, raising concerns about students, families, and community members avoiding schools and medical care out of fear.
Several Texas school districts are taking a “wait and see” approach to the Trump Administration’s mass deportation plans. State legislators senta letter to Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath, calling on the department to provide direction to school districts on how to proceed.Read the full letter online.
The Texas Legislature meets for 140 days every two years*. It’s a slim window to pass legislation, and it’s actually slimmer than you think. Much of the action in the Texas House and Senate has yet to begin this session as both chambers wait for Gov. Greg Abbott to release his list of “emergency items.”
Per the Texas Constitution, lawmakers can only pass legislation marked as an emergency item by the governor in the first 60 days of a regular legislative session. We expect Abbott to announce these items this Sunday, Feb. 2, in his State of the State address.
We’ll know then which bills the House and Senate can take up and pass quickly. We expect a private school voucher program to be among those priorities. Where the important bills supporting our Educator’s Bill of Rights — many of which have broad popularity with school employees, parents, and students — land in the governor’s priorities remains to be seen.
After just a few weeks in the Legislature, we’ve learned more than enough for a 30-minute recap. Join us on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube Live on Thursday, Feb. 6 @ 6 p.m. to get the scoop on the latest updates and how we can act together for thriving public schools.
Our educator workforce deserves to retire in dignity and security, and we can’t do that on the $2,199 per month the average teacher receives from the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS). Texas voters turned out in force in 2023 to support Prop A, the first statewide TRS cost-of-living increase in nearly two decades. But that was a one-time Band-Aid. Texas needs to join almost every other state in making sure its retired educators get annual, automatic pension increases that are tied to inflation.
Our Texas AFT Retiree Plus activists frequently appear at the Capitol to testify before committees and to meet personally with individual legislators to explain their personal experience as retirees. And some legislators are listening, filing bills in support of an educator’s right to retire with dignity. Find the full list of bills in the story online.
Solidarity Forever:We were proud to welcome Houston ISD parents with Community Voices for Public Education to the Capitol this week. They joined forces with Texas AAUP-AFT members for legislative visits, underscoring the need for fully funded and fully supported public schools, from pre-K to post-doc. There is no daylight between Texas educators and parents when it comes to what our kids need to thrive because better working conditions for educators means better learning conditions for students.
Across North Texas, parents, educators, and community leaders are coming together with a shared mission: ensuring that public schools receive the funding they need to support students and teachers. Fund Schools First, a grassroots movement, is advocating for increased public education funding to improve classroom resources, teacher salaries, and student services.
A key priority for the movement is shifting Texas school funding to an enrollment-based model, rather than attendance-based funding. Under the current system, schools lose funding when students miss class, even for excused absences. This outdated formula shortchanges schools and forces districts to operate with unpredictable budgets. Fund Schools First supports an enrollment-based funding approach, ensuring that every student is fully funded, regardless of daily attendance.
📖 Texas school finance explained: What is ‘recapture,’ and why ‘Robin Hood’ is a misnomer.Wink-Loving ISD serves less than 500 students in rural West Texas, while Houston ISD educates more than 180,000 in the state’s largest city. But due to a feature of Texas’ labyrinthian school finance system known as “recapture,” both have been required to hand over vast sums of money to the state.(Houston Chronicle, Jan. 10)
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