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This Week in the Legislature: 3 Things to Know 

We are just over one week into the 89th Legislature and things are beginning to move. As we continue to advocate for the important bills supporting our Educator’s Bill of Rights, we are also watching the following developments:  

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Texas AFT Receives $50,000 AFT Grant for Educator Apprenticeship Program

This month, our national affiliate, the American Federation of Teachers, announced grants totaling $500,000 to fund 14 projects for AFT affiliates across the country, including Texas AFT.  This latest round of grants is part of the AFT Innovation Fund’s “What Kids and Communities Need” grant program, which has committed $1.6...

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House Appropriations Committee Considers Community College Budget, Hears Testimony from AFT

https://youtu.be/AoC0KpRRDQQ This past Thursday, the Article III subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, which is responsible for the education-related portions of the state budget, heard testimony related to budget appropriations for the state’s community colleges.  Dr. David Albert, president of Austin Community College AFT, was among those who testified. In...

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Statement on Teacher Vacancy Task Force Report

Texas A-F-T logo

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  Feb. 24, 2022  CONTACT:  press@texasaft.org Texas AFT President Zeph Capo commented today on the final report released by the Texas Education Agency’s Teacher Vacancy Task Force:   “We thank the task force for its work, and we especially want to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of the...

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Feb. 17, 2023: TEA Deputy Says the Quiet Part Out Loud

Friday, Feb. 17, 2023 The Campaign to Defund Public Schools Picks Up Steam This has been a whirlwind week in the world of Texas education. We’ll cover much of it in this newsletter (TEA scandal! State of the State! Dan Patrick’s priorities!), but the main theme: vouchers and their impact...

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Socorro AFT Donates $10,000 in Goods to Asylum Seekers

As unionists, we say it frequently: an injustice to one is an injustice to all. Our members in Socorro ISD exemplified that spirit in January, spearheading a donation drive for people seeking asylum at the Texas-Mexico border. Socorro AFT led the efforts with support from several other El Paso area...

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House Appropriations Committee Convenes, Receives Subcommittee Assignments

News from the 88th Legislative Session

This Tuesday, the House Appropriations Committee, which is responsible for crafting the state’s biennial budget, convened for the first time this legislative session. At the hearing, the committee received testimony from Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar and Education Commissioner Mike Morath. At the hearing, Hegar discussed the state’s unprecedented $33 billion...

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Feb. 10, 2023: 89% of School Counselors Don’t Feel Respected by Texas

Text says, "National School Counselor Week: 89 percent of school counselors say they don't feel respected by the state of Texas."

This week's Hotline is sponsored by Texas AFT corporate supporter Horace Mann.  Friday, Feb. 10, 2023 Shining a Spotlight on School Counselors To honor National School Counseling Week, we’ve given the top spot in today’s Hotline to a Texas school counselor. My name is Jessica Pecina Lopez, and I am...

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Statement on Leaked Audio of TEA Voucher Conversation

Texas A-F-T logo

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  Feb. 15, 2023  CONTACT:  press@texasaft.org Texas AFT President Zeph Capo commented today on a leaked audio recording of the Texas Education Agency deputy commissioner advocating for school vouchers.   “’Maybe that's one less fourth grade teacher.’ Is that how the conversation normally goes inside TEA?   Inside...

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Shining a Spotlight on School Counselors

Text says, "National School Counselor Week: 89 percent of school counselors say they don't feel respected by the state of Texas."

This week is National School Counseling Week, a time to highlight the incredibly important, difficult, and too often unnoticed work of our public school counselors. There is a lot we can say here, like:  89% of our members who are school counselors tell us they don’t feel respected by the...

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