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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 MorePreview: State Board of Education’s November Meeting
The State Board of Education (SBOE) will hold its regular meeting in Austin next week. We will be closely watching several items, with special focus on those related to proposed science textbooks, HB 1605 implementation, and ethnic studies courses. The SBOE will also hear general updates on the Generation 29...
Read MoreRecognizing Shirley Harris: A Trailblazer in Education
To read more about Shirley Harris' remarkable life, check out our profile from Black History Month 2023. Shirley Harris, a graduate of Southwest Texas State College (now Texas State University) and trailblazer in the field of education and racial equality, will finally receive the recognition she deserves. On Monday, Nov....
Read MoreIn Wake of SB 18 Passage, Tenure Debacle Emerges at UT-Tyler
In what would be the first documented case of tenured faculty in Texas being fired since Senate Bill 18 went into effect, an associate professor at the University of Texas at Tyler was informed she was set to be terminated effective Tuesday, Oct. 31, for allegedly violating university operating procedures. ...
Read MoreNov. 3, 2023: The Voting Window Is Closing
Friday, November 3, 2023 [VIDEO] Texas AFT Retiree Plus members like Phyllis Ruffin, Rita Runnels, and Lydia Carrillo-Valdez launched their fight for a TRS COLA in 2018. Hear from them on why Prop 9 is a much-needed beginning for retirement justice. They’re counting on you With only a few days...
Read MoreSpecial Session Update: Despite Gov. Abbott’s Posturing, No Deal on Vouchers
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 MoreRetired Educators Keep up the Fight for COLA Heading to Election Day, Despite Low Voter Turnout
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 MoreAdvocates Representing Over 4 Million Educators, 1,000 Higher Education Institutions Fight Back Against Attacks on Freedoms
AFT President Randi Weingarten, Network for Public Education President Diane Ravitch, and National Education Association President Becky Pringle spoke together at a conference keynote session. This past weekend, representatives from Texas AFT and the Houston Federation of Teachers (HFT) attended...
Read MoreWith New Congressional Leadership, Voucher Peddlers Take Their Grift to D.C.
Last week, congressional Republicans finally chose a Speaker of the House after weeks of intra-party fights. Since far-right Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) successfully ousted fellow Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Oct. 3, Congress had been at a virtual standstill. Despite their majority, Republicans had been unable to settle on a...
Read MoreHelp Shape The Future of Education in Texas: 2 Ways You Can Speak Up About Curriculum, Assessment Changes
As the third special session winds down, educators can continue to make a difference for public education in numerous ways statewide. It is critical that our members participate in ongoing conversations at decision-making tables to ensure that public education continues...
Read MoreTEA’s New School Rating System Blocked in Court
A lawsuit filed by Texas public school districts against the Texas Education Agency’s proposed revision of the school accountability rating system has clocked its first court victory. Late last week, a Travis County judge temporarily blocked TEA from releasing this year’s school ratings, which would have the revised standards retroactively...
Read MoreLow Wages, No Respect: New AFT Report Highlights the Struggles of Adjunct Professors
A new national adjunct faculty survey from the American Federation of Teachers underscores the continuing crisis faced by millions of contingent workers at the nation’s colleges and universities—with little improvement to poverty wages and untenable conditions in the wake of the pandemic. AFT’s latest Army of Temps report, the third...
Read MoreStatement on ‘Border Security’ Bill HB 4
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Nov. 1, 2023 CONTACT: press@texasaft.org Texas AFT President Zeph Capo commented on House Bill 4, being heard today in the Senate Committee on Border Security, and its potential effects on public school students and employees: “Every day in Texas, educators are teaching an increasingly diverse population of...
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