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Unpacking the 89th Legislature: Your Right to a Secure Retirement
Texas AFT members at our 2025 Public Education Advocacy Day at the Capitol. One Socorro AFT member holds a sign with one of the 10 essential rights in our Educator’s Bill of Rights: the right to secure retirement. Texas educators deserve better than broken promises and one-time checks. Despite a historic push for pension reform this legislative session, the 89th...
Read MoreApril 26, 2024: A Sorry Week for Texas
Friday, April 26, 2024 A post on X (formerly Twitter) from Lily Kepner, the higher education reporter for the Austin American-Statesman, shows UT AAUP President Polly Strong addressing students, faculty, and community members at a Thursday protest, one day after local and state law enforcement agents violently responded to a...
Read MoreFact Check: Do Voucher Programs Really Increase Public School Funding?
Governor Abbott's “School Choice” Claims Don't Hold Up to the Facts Gov. Greg Abbott has recently made some bold claims about the impacts of voucher programs like Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) on public school funding. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Abbott stated that, "In 97% of states with...
Read MoreIn His Latest Attack on LGBTQ+ Texans, Gov. Abbott Calls for an “End” to Transgender Teachers
In the latest of a long series of alarming attacks on educators, Gov. Greg Abbott has set his sights on transgender educators. During his keynote speech at the Young Conservatives of Texas convention this past weekend, Abbott jeopardized the livelihoods...
Read MoreFederal Court Temporarily Blocks Texas HB 900, Citing Constitutional Concerns
Last week, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals declined to reconsider their earlier decision on Texas House Bill 900 (HB 900). The court specifically blocked the provision of the bill that would have required private book vendors to assign ratings to reading materials based on criteria set by the Texas...
Read MoreTexas AFT, Texas AAUP-AFT Statement on UT-Austin Protests
Echoing earlier sentiments from concerned UT Austin faculty and the Texas AAUP-AFT and Texas NAACP, Texas AFT President Zeph Capo and Texas AAUP-AFT President Brian Evans have issued the following statements.
Read MoreApril 19, 2024: In the Room
Friday, April 19, 2024 This past Tuesday, April 16, the U.S. House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security held a meeting to discuss the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO), two provisions that heavily penalize many Texas educators and public employees. AFT members from across the...
Read MoreReminder: Early Voting Starts April 22 for May 4 Municipal Elections
It’s that time of year again: early voting season! As we get closer to the municipal election date (May 4), it’s hugely important that we make our voices heard in this upcoming election. As the war on public education — and public educators — continues, we must elect candidates, especially...
Read MoreFact Check: Have millions of Texans registered to vote without photo ID this year?
In an April 2 post on X (formerly Twitter) that received 56,000 likes and attention from both Elon Musk and former President Donald Trump, an account named @EndWokeness claimed that 1,250,710 voters registered without a photo ID in Texas since the start of 2024. This claim is blatantly false and...
Read MoreState Leaders Call for TRS-Care Premium Reduction, Re-Enrollment for Medicare-eligible Retirees
Last week, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Senate Finance Chair Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston) sent an open letter to TRS Board of Trustees Chair Jarvis Hollingsworth asking him to examine the possibility of reducing premiums for Medicare-eligible retirees. Due to the prospective premium decrease, the letter also directed the TRS...
Read MoreSBEC Preview: Back to the Drawing Board
The State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) will meet in Austin on Friday, April 26. We anticipate a relatively quiet agenda except for the recap of the State Board of Education proceedings and anticipated discussion of the revised request for proposal (RFP) for a Texas-specific performance assessment. We covered the...
Read MoreSBOE Recap: Rules Approved, SBEC Cautioned
The State Board of Education gathered in Austin from April 9-12 for what promised to be consequential meetings related to educator certification, as well as other topics important to our members. Tuesday has become “instructional materials day” on the SBOE’s agenda. Texas Education Agency (TEA) staff presented an update on the...
Read MoreLt. Gov. Announces Politicized Interim Charges for Higher Education
Last week, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick released his interim charges, outlining the items that Patrick intends for senators to study in preparation for the next legislative session. In our last edition of the Hotline, Texas AFT unpacked each of interim charges that affect K-12 public education. This week, we’re diving...
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