Featured News
This Week in the Legislature: House Rolls Out Bills to Fundamentally Change Public Education in Texas
The Texas House made news last week with a new slate of committee assignments that will determine the fate of the Educator’s Bill of Rights and other critical education policies, including school finance, teacher and school staff pay, and private school vouchers (ESAs).
Read MoreNov. 22, 2024: What is there to be grateful for?
Friday, Nov. 22, 2024 What is there to be grateful for? This has been a bruising year, another in a long string of them. We have endured an unrelenting election cycle that exposed the deep rifts within our country. And many of you have done it while clocking into work...
Read MoreSBOE Recap: Board Approves Controversial Bluebonnet Learning Materials
The November meeting of the State Board of Education (SBOE) began Monday with the fanfare of another public hearing on the instructional materials submitted for consideration and adoption under the new process established by House Bill 1605. The focus was almost entirely on the Texas Education Agency-developed English language arts...
Read MoreTexas Revives Ten Commandments Bill Amid Louisiana Ruling
A federal judge in Louisiana has struck down a law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms, citing it as “unconstitutional on its face.” The ruling cited concerns about religious coercion and violations of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. This decision could foreshadow legal battles for...
Read MoreStatement on SBOE Approval of Bluebonnet Learning Materials
On Friday, the State Board of Education approved Bluebonnet Learning, a set of state-created curriculum materials infused with an inappropriate level of Christian and biblical content. Texas AFT President Zeph Capo released the following statement in response.
Read MoreSBEC Preview: A Consequential List of Proposals
The State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) will meet in Austin on Friday, Dec. 6. The board will take up for proposal several items Texas AFT has been watching closely.
Read MoreEmpowering Texas: How Teacher Retirement Benefits Drive Economic Growth
Last year, an overwhelming majority of Texas voters chose to give retired educators in the state the first cost-of living-adjustment (COLA) to their pensions in decades. This investment has put more money directly into the pockets of retired educators, allowing them to invest their money as they see fit and...
Read MoreState Legislators Pre-File Legislation to Support Educators & School Employees: Educator’s Bill of Rights Update
State legislators began pre-filing bills for the upcoming 89th legislative session early last week. We are excited to share that several bills have already been filed advancing key priorities in Texas AFT’s Educator’s Bill of Rights.
Read MoreNov. 15, 2024: Your union, your voice
Friday, Nov. 15, 2024 Your Union, Your Voice The annual Texas AFT Membership Survey closes this Monday! Members – your voices built our union’s 2025 legislative agenda, and your priorities are what we need to hear about right now. Please take time this weekend to complete our annual membership survey....
Read MoreSocial Security Fairness Act Passes U.S. House, Heads for Senate Approval
After decades of advocacy from AFT members and other labor unions of public service employees, is a repeal of the reviled Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) finally at hand?
Read More‘Not a Faculty Senate, but the Texas Senate’: Senate Higher Ed Subcommittee Signals Expanded Political Interference
On Monday, Nov. 11, the Senate Higher Education Subcommittee held its third interim committee hearing this year on three consequential charges, including two that are expected to have significant implications for both academic freedom and democratic representation.
Read MoreIn national election results, voters overwhelmingly rejected vouchers
In three states, a mix of “red” and “blue,” coalitions of rural and urban voters, and of Republicans and Democrats, came together to forcefully reject sending taxpayer dollars (intended for public schools) to private schools via a voucher program.
Read MoreSBOE: Bluebonnet Learning/OER Vote Happening Next Week
The State Board of Education (SBOE) will hear testimony on Bluebonnet Learning materials and vote on the proposed curriculum this week.
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