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Urgent Call to Action: Texas House Public Education Committee Hearings on 08/12 and 08/13
The Texas House Public Education Committee is holding critical hearings on Monday, August 12 and Tuesday, August 13 on issues that are having or will have a profound impact on the future of public education in Texas. Perhaps most critically, the committee will consider the implementation of taxpayer-funded private school vouchers and the effect that the increasing quantity of uncertified...
Read MoreVoter Approval Tax Rate Elections: What They Are & Why Your School District May Pursue One
Texas school districts find themselves grappling with severe budget deficits. More districts are turning to Voter Approval Tax Rate Elections (VATREs) as a potential solution.
Read MoreTake Action: Tell Gov. Abbott to Release the $4.5 Billion Our Public Schools Need
Texas public schools are in crisis. All Texas school districts must pass their budgets by the end of June, and we are seeing districts forced to lay off teachers and staff, cut student services, and close entire school campuses. While Gov. Greg Abbott may have tanked last year’s school funding...
Read MorePrimary Runoff Election Yields Mixed Results for Texas Public Schools
Left: Texas AFT COPE-endorsed Democratic candidate for House District 146 Lauren Simmons, pictured at a March rally with the Houston Federation of Teachers, prevailed in Tuesday’s primary runoff election. Right: Aldine AFT members write postcards to voters on behalf of Charlene Ward Johnson, endorsed candidate for HD 139, who also...
Read MoreRelease of HB 1605 Instructional Materials Launches Fresh Concerns, of Biblical Proportions
On Wednesday, a day that should have been spent taking in the afterglow (or afterburn) of the primary runoffs, the public education community was instead treated to increasingly eyebrow-raising news relating to the State Board of Education (SBOE)’s instructional materials and review process. Regular Hotline readers know of our...
Read MoreAFT Book Club: A Conversation with Mike Hixenbaugh
Join the June AFT Book Club session featuring AFT President Randi Weingarten and award-winning author Mike Hixenbaugh, discussing his new book, They Came for the Schools: One Town’s Fight Over Race and Identity, and the New War for America’s Classrooms. Dive into an enlightening conversation as Mike, a Pulitzer Prize...
Read MoreICYMI: The 74 Reveals New Biblical Content in State’s ‘High-Quality Instructional Materials’
On Wednesday, the Texas Education Agency revealed its first round of Open Education Resources mandated by House Bill 1605. The new curriculum, as reported by The 74, includes significant Christian references and materials.
Read MoreStatement on Texas Primary Runoff Election Results
What have we learned so far from this year’s election cycle in Texas? Very little besides what we already knew: if you’ve got enough money, you can buy whatever seat you want. Mostly.
Read MoreMay 24, 2024: Never Back, Always Forward
Friday, May 24, 2024 Houston Federation of Teachers President Jackie Anderson, AFT Executive Vice President Evelyn DeJesus, and Texas AFT President Zeph Capo at a fundraiser for the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) at HFT’s office on Wednesday. Never Back, Always Forward It was a remarkable week for...
Read MoreFact Check: Is everyone except Gov. Abbott to blame for public schools’ budget crises?
As the 2023-2024 academic year comes to a close, Texas public schools find themselves struggling with severe budget deficits that are jeopardizing their ability to deliver high-quality education to the state's 5.5 million public school students. In recent remarks quoted on Twitter/X, Gov. Greg Abbott sought to distance himself from...
Read MoreFortified Campuses, Fearful Classrooms: Texas Schools 2 Years After Uvalde
Two years have passed since the horrific shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, where 19 children and two teachers were tragically killed by a lone 18-year-old gunman armed with an AR-15 as hundreds of law enforcement officers waited nearby. As we mark this somber anniversary, it is disheartening that...
Read MoreEmpowering Educators: Spring AFT, Brownsville Educators Stand Together Officially Charter as Texas AFT Local Unions
Educators in Spring ISD and Brownsville ISD are celebrating a significant milestone, as Texas AFT organizing committees in each district officially voted to charter as full local unions. In the past week, both Spring AFT and Brownsville Educators Stand Together...
Read MoreTexas Ranks First in Nation for Food Insecurity
In a new report from the “Map the Meal” study from Feeding America, Texas has ranked No. 1 in the country for food insecurity. Furthermore, “the counties with the highest rates of food insecurity are disproportionately rural. Sometimes a free lunch at school may be the only meal a child...
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