Featured News
Action Needed: SBOE to Review TEA’s Bible-Infused New Curriculum
Typically, we would wait to preview the State Board of Education (SBOE) meeting in the Hotline edition closest to the date of the meeting. However, there is a hotly anticipated hearing happening at the board’s next regular meeting, Sept. 10-13, and we need our members engaged and taking action in advance of the meeting. Regular Hotline readers will be familiar...
Read MoreStatement on Gov. Abbott’s Expanded Agenda for 3rd Special Session
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Oct. 31, 2023 CONTACT: press@texasaft.org Texas AFT President Zeph Capo commented today on Gov. Greg Abbott’s proclamation expanding the rapidly ending third special session agenda to include school funding. “You can drizzle the poison pill with honey, but it’s still poison. No deal on taxpayer-funded vouchers, which...
Read MoreOct. 27, 2023: Have you voted?
Friday, October 27, 2023 Have you voted? Early voting continues across Texas for the Nov. 7 election. Next week through Friday, Nov. 3, you have the opportunity to cast your vote for various important measures that will shape the future of your community and state. Statewide Measures Texans everywhere will...
Read MoreOct. 20, 2023: Power in Solidarity
Friday, October 20, 2023 Shoulder to Shoulder There is a reason so many people in power want you to believe unionizing in Texas is illegal. (It’s not.) There is a reason they want you to think there are no unions for teachers and school staff. (There are. We are one.)...
Read MoreRetired Educators Hit the Polls to Win First Pension COLA in Nearly 2 Decades
This week — the first week of early voting in Texas’ statewide constitutional elections — retired educators across Texas showed up at the polls in force in support of Proposition 9, which will provide some retired educators with their first pension cost-of-living adjustment (COLA).
Read MoreSpecial Session Update: Vouchers at a Standstill Amid Immigration Debate
Late last Thursday, after weeks of almost no action from the House on vouchers, Rep. Brad Buckley (R-Killeen), chairman of the House Public Education Committee, quietly filed House Bill 1, a voucher bill that includes some limited public education funding increases.
Read MoreSBOE Update: Last Call for Science Textbook Comments
Well-monied interest groups are calling on climate deniers to flood the SBOE with demands to censor new science textbooks, specifically for Grade 8. We must take action now to demand that the board reject these attempts to censor the truth.
Read More7 Texas AFT Local Unions Win AFT Powerful Partnerships Institute Grants
At AFT’s Civil, Human, & Women’s Rights Conference in Houston, our national union’s Powerful Partnership Institute (PPI) awarded its latest round of grant funding. Texas AFT was among those grant recipients, along with seven of our local unions
Read MoreTell Sen. Cornyn: Do Not Support More Charter School Program Waste, Fraud
Eight U.S. senators (including Texas Sen. John Cornyn) introduced a bill last week that was clearly written with the help of the charter school lobby. The Empower Charter School Educators to Lead Act would allow billionaire-funded nonprofits to keep more of a cut when dispersing Charter School Program (CSP) grants.
Read MoreSchool Chaplain Bill Update: School Districts Begin Voting on SB 763
From now until March 1, 2024, every Texas school district must decide whether to adopt a policy to allow chaplains to serve as counselors in public schools, after the passage of SB 763. These votes are now starting to take place.
Read MoreKick Off Early Voting with Texas AFT Retiree Plus, Pro-COLA Legislators
Retired educators across Texas will kick off the first day of early voting for Proposition 9, which will provide some retired educators with their first pension cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in nearly two decades, with a Zoom meeting this Monday at 6 p.m. CT. Retirees will be texting their peers to...
Read MoreOct. 13, 2023: It’s not about the kids
Friday, October 13, 2023 It’s not about the kids. Spoiler alert: The fight to privatize education isn’t about doing what’s best for kids. It never has been. It’s about turning a profit for wealthy investors and fueling Gov. Abbott’s national political ambitions. An incredible piece from The Texas Tribune and...
Read MoreSpecial Session Update: Gov. Abbott Dangles Carrot, Educators Say “No Deal”
Late last week, just hours after the Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 1, the latest iteration of that chamber’s voucher bill, Gov. Greg Abbott stated that he would only add teacher raises and public school funding to the special session call if the Legislature passes his voucher scheme. Abbott specifically...
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