Publish Date: March 19, 2025 11:34 am Author: Texas AFT
Share on
Friday, March 14, 2025
‘Whose Union? Our Union.’
On Monday, 500 Texas AFT members, parents, and students traveled to the Capitol to make their voices heard. (More on that below.) Why? Because, as Texas AFT President Zeph Capo reminded us, no one is coming to save us.It’s up to us to work together for thriving public schools, colleges, and universities for ourselves and our students.
And that starts by coming together as a union.
“You know, lawmakers in this building like to complain about ‘the teachers’ union’ doing this or ‘the teachers’ union’ doing that. But the message I want to remind each of you about and make clear to the people under that dome is this: you are your union,” Capo told attendees. “Your voice is our voice. Your priorities are our priorities. I hope y’all see that in the agenda we’ve shared with lawmakers today: our Educator’s Bill of Rights. Everything you’ve talked about in your local unions and on your campuses and with your colleagues is what built this agenda. And it’s worth fighting for, even when the odds are stacked against us.”
If we’re going to defeat vouchers and fully fund our schools and protect our right to teach the truth, we need everyone in the game. If you work in pre-K-12 or higher education and haven’t yet joined our union, we invite you to do so with open arms. You can join Texas AFT online today.
In this week’s Hotline:
The full recap of our first (!) advocacy day of this legislative session
A 22-hour voucher bill committee hearing
Special education bills in the Texas Senate
Also Tuesday 😫: a higher education committee hearing
This past Monday, around 500 educators traveled from districts big and small across the state to urge lawmakers to pass our union’s Educator’s Bill of Rights, increase the basic allotment in the school finance bill, and stop pushing costly and unpopular private school voucher scams.
Over the course of a busy day – the first day of most of their Spring Breaks – educators engaged with lawmakers and spoke about the issues they see every single day at their neighborhood public schools. The day culminated in a rally on the South steps of the Capitol, where we heard firsthand the experience of Texas students and educators, including pre-K-12 teachers, paraprofessionals, support staff, higher education employees, and retirees.
New Public Education Advocacy Day Merchandise: Looking for another way to show off the Educator’s Bill of Rights? Head to our online store to get T-shirts perfect for a visit to the Capitol 😉 Each order is a direct donation to our Committee on Political Education (COPE), which helps support pro-public education candidates in elections! Visit store.texasaft.org.
Texas AFT was proud to join with other public education supporters for a press conference hosted by Texas Freedom Network on Tuesday, March 11. It was a strong show of solidarity and Texans’ opposition to the private school voucher bill being heard in committee that day.
Hundreds of witnesses testified deep into the night this week in yet another hearing on school vouchers. The House Public Education committee heard House Bill 3, a school voucher scam that garnered nearly unanimous opposition from hundreds of witnesses and in12,000 public comments into the House portal. Instead, commenters and witnesses voiced their emphatic support for Texas public schools, a support echoed infreshly released polling.
🔗 Take action now!Sign our e-letter urging legislators to vote NO on HB 3!
The Senate Education K-16 committee also met Tuesday (yes, the barrage of overlapping hearings is not an accident) to take up an agenda of bills primarily related to supporting students with disabilities and special education funding.
Tuesday was a packed day for education, with a third hearing of note for our members happening in the House Higher Education Committee. Committee members continued their discussion from last week’s hearing on tailoring programs to meet workforce demands.
#FireElon: Texas AFT stands in solidarity with the members of AFGE Local 252, which represents U.S. Department of Education employees. This week, over 1,300 DOE employees, including AFGE Local 252 President Sheria Smith, a Texan, were laid off — cutting the department’s workforce in half. Earlier this month, Smith explained the valuable work she and her colleagues do each day on our livestreamed town hall.
📖 How a Republican plan to cut universal free school meals could affect 12 million students. GOP lawmakers say they want to ensure only eligible families get help and that taxpayer dollars are reserved for the neediest students, so that federal subsidies for school meals remain sustainable. But by one estimate, the Republicans’ plan would affect nearly a quarter of the students in the nation’s public schools. (Chalkbeat, March 12)
📖 Dismantling DEI on campus is messy. Here’s how it looks at one university. Even before the Trump administration started pressuring schools to get rid of DEI initiatives, red states were enacting laws to do so. Texas is one of at least 11 states, including Florida, Utah, and Iowa, with laws eliminating DEI efforts in higher education. How that process has unfurled there may hold lessons for colleges and universities across the United States. (Christian Science Monitor, March 7)
Want the latest news delivered directly to your inbox? Sign up for our Legislative Hotline email list!
Sign Up Now
