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 Property Tax Relief, Education Funding
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 6, 2023 CONTACT: press@texasaft.org Texas AFT President Zeph Capo commented today on Rep. John Bryant and House Democrats’ alternate property tax relief plan that would boost public school funding and educator pay: “The 88th Legislature, in many ways, has made clear to Texas educators who their...
Read MoreUnpacking the Legislature: School Safety
As a union, we like to say “educators’ working conditions are students’ learning conditions.” While this adage applies to diverse issues such as class size, school funding, and facilities, nowhere is that phrase more relevant than when it comes to school safety.
Read More#TogetherWeThrive: Recap of Texas AFT’s 31st Biennial Convention
Daniel Alvarez Photo For the first time since 2019, Texas AFT members convened in person for our statewide convention, passing resolutions, electing officers, and managing the business of our union. The 31st Biennial Convention, hosted jointly by McAllen AFT, PSJA AFT, Edinburg AFT, and La Joya AFT, arrived on the...
Read MoreLegislative Update: Back for Another Property Tax Special Session, Senators Propose a Bonus Check for Teachers
Just as the first special session called by Gov. Greg Abbott was scheduled to run out of time this Wednesday (with legislators passing zero bills), Abbott immediately called a second special session on the very same issue that stalled the...
Read MoreIn Response to Book Ban Bill, Texas School District Halts All Book Purchases
This week, the Katy ISD school board directed the school superintendent to halt the purchase of any new library books and to store any newly purchased books in a warehouse until at least April 2024 in response to a recently passed law by the Texas Legislature. HB 900 by Rep....
Read MoreU.S. Department of Education: TEA Finally in Compliance with Special Education Standards after Years of Violation
In a recently released letter from the U.S. Department of Education addressed to the Texas Education Agency (TEA), the Department stated that TEA has finally fulfilled its obligations to Texas students outlined in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)...
Read MoreSupreme Court Targets Efforts to Promote Diversity on College Campuses
This week, the U.S. Supreme Court released a decision that found certain practices promoting a diverse student body on college campuses are unconstitutional. The majority decisions issued by the court’s six conservative justices in the cases Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. UNC found...
Read MoreJune 23, 2023: Together We Thrive
This week's Hotline is brought to you by Horace Mann. Friday, June 23, 2023 One Judson AFT member pictured at Thursday’s school board meeting. Together We Thrive It simply isn’t enough for Texas public schools to survive (which many of them are struggling to do at all, especially in rural...
Read MoreJune 16, 2023: The Impending Special Sessions
This week's Hotline is brought to you by Horace Mann. Friday, June 16, 2023 New Committees, New Laws, New Special Sessions… No New Raises Two weeks after Sine Die, Texas elected officials are still crossing t’s and dotting i’s on one of the most disappointing sessions for public education in...
Read MoreJune 9, 2023: ‘Starving us to death’
This week's Hotline is brought to you by Horace Mann. Friday, June 9, 2023 Rio Grande Valley community members, including McAllen AFT, protest outside an April stop on Gov. Abbott’s voucher roadshow. Photo by Clarissa Riojas. ‘If you don’t have a school, you don’t have a community’ Today, we start...
Read MoreUnpacking the 88th Legislature: Public School Funding
This week, we’ll provide some insight into the Texas school finance system, explore why the Texas Legislature did not use the historic $33 billion surplus to address the “teacher vacancy crisis” or give you a raise, and explain what’s next in our fight for respect and for fully funding our...
Read More31st Biennial Texas AFT Convention Starts Today
This weekend, Texas AFT hosts our union’s 31st Biennial Convention in McAllen. Many thanks to our host committee in the Rio Grande Valley: McAllen AFT, Edinburg AFT, La Joya AFT, and PSJA AFT. The convention is our place, every two years, to take care of the business of our union...
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