Every week, Texas AFT compiles important news, updates, and information on public education policy in Texas. The Hotline covers a wide range of topics, including statewide education news, updates from the legislative session, and our current union campaigns.
Friday, Nov. 8, 2024 Progress is never a straight line, and our fight for thriving public schools is the work of lifetimes. But we’ve been it here in Texas for the past 50 years, and we’ll be in for the next 50 too. What we have is each other Over 65,000 active, retired, and former Texas AFT members voted in...
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Friday, Sept. 6, 2024 From Moms Demand Action 'We are tired of losing' Two educators and two students were killed Wednesday at Apalachee High School in Georgia in yet another preventable instance of gun violence on America’s school campuses. Nine of their fellow students and educators were wounded by a...
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Friday, August 30, 2024 50 Years in the Fight to Thrive: 2024 is Texas AFT’s 50th anniversary as a state federation. We’ve been fighting for thriving Texas public schools from the beginning. And we’ll be on the front lines in every fight to come over the next 50 years. Labor Day Seven...
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Friday, August 23, 2024 We know who’s to blame Gov. Greg Abbott was quick to crow this week about the Texas economy, now the eighth largest in the entire world. On social media, he called the state the “economic envy” of the world. That’s nice, governor. But perhaps you...
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Friday, August 16, 2024 McAllen AFT, Southwest Dallas AFT, San Antonio Alliance, Cy-Fair AFT, and many other local unions attended the various district back-to-school events for employees this month. Welcome back, educators! It's that magical time of year again! Across Texas, educators and school employees are heading back to school,...
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Friday, August 2, 2024 Back to School. Back to the Legislature. Interim committee hearings are an essential part of the Texas legislative process between regular legislative sessions. The Texas House Public Education Committee is holding critical hearings on Monday, Aug. 12, and Tuesday, Aug. 13, on issues that are...
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Friday, July 26, 2024 Cross-Country Solidarity In recent years, it feels like public education in Texas has made headlines for all the wrong reasons: stagnant public school funding, book bans, or the threat of privatization, and more. But this week Texas educators made the front pages of newspapers across the...
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Friday, July 19, 2024 What could go wrong? In an average year, 3,996 people die and 5,556 are wounded by guns in Texas, according to 2023 data collated by Everytown for Gun Safety. And the problem is growing worse. The rate of gun deaths in Texas increased 46% from 2012...
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Friday, July 12, 2024 Houston Federation of Teachers and Aldine AFT members hand out groceries at distributions events for their neighbors in need after Hurricane Beryl. We take care of us In the initial aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, Texas AFT has worked with our local unions to distribute care packages...
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Friday, July 5, 2024 If you are trying to explain or contextualize recent Supreme Court rulings for your own kids, or your students, this collection from AFT’s Share My Lesson is a start. Democracy. Given the Supreme Court’s unprecedented ruling in Trump v. United States, establishing immunity for presidents for...
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Friday, June 28, 2024 America’s teachers feel stress, burned out, and unfairly paid at about twice the rate of comparable working adults, according to the 2024 State of the American Teacher Survey from RAND, the nonpartisan nonprofit. Que sorpresa. What’s driving this rampant level of distress? Many of the same...
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Friday, June 21, 2024 The Whole Truth “We have simply got to make people aware that none of us are free until we’re all free.” — Opal Lee, the “Grandmother of Juneteenth” On June 19, 1865, Union Army Gen. Gordon Granger proclaimed the end of slavery to individuals in Galveston,...
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Monday, June 17, 2024 Last week's Hotline was delayed to today due to technical difficulties on Friday, June 14th. Texas Democrats Unite to Defend Public Education at 2024 State Convention This past weekend, Texas Democrats gathered in El Paso for their 2024 state convention, and the tone could not have...
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