This week, as the Texas House Committee on Public Education met to discuss private school vouchers that would syphon tax dollars from our public schools, a Travis County district court issued a temporary injunction to halt the release of the controversial A-F school ratings determined by the governor-appointed commissioner of education. Five public school districts petitioned the court to stop...
Read MoreOn July 25, Governor Greg Abbott announced the launch of a new school safety system called Sentinel. This new platform-- designed to collect, process, store, and distribute school safety and security information-- is housed within the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and is a part of ongoing school safety and security improvement measures. We have written extensively about House Bill 3...
Read MoreEnglish-learning students across Texas have faced an uphill battle with the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS). In 2018, the test was redesigned, and the shift to automated computer scoring has led to a troubling trend — drastically lower scores that don’t seem to reflect students' true abilities, according to a Texas Tribune analysis. For years, TELPAS was a...
Read MoreIn 2023, Greg Abbott signed HB 567, also known as the Crown Act, into law to ban hair discrimination in schools and workplaces. Since then, many school districts have altered their dress codes to adjust to the new regulations put in place by the CROWN Act. However, the ACLU of Texas found that, still, many districts in Texas have not...
Read MoreHorace Mann is a long-time corporate supporter. Enter their sweepstakes for your chance to be one of 100 lucky winners who will take home a $250* gift card to either Target or Amazon. And if you win a gift card, your school could be one of 25 schools that wins a new-school-year celebration worth up to $1,000! Horace Mann will...
Read MoreNext week, the Texas House Public Education Committee will hold critical hearings on Monday, Aug. 12, and Tuesday, Aug. 13. The committee will discuss key issues shaping public education's future in our state. These hearings provide an opportunity for us to make our voices heard and influence upcoming legislation. What Are Interim Committee Hearings? Interim committee hearings are crucial to...
Read More
Read More
Interim committee hearings are an essential part of the Texas legislative process between regular legislative sessions. The Texas House Public Education Committee is holding critical hearings on Monday, Aug. 12, and Tuesday, Aug. 13, on issues that are having or will have a profound impact on the future of public education in Texas. These hearings present a unique opportunity for...
Read MoreTop: AFT convention delegates and guests listen to Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday, July 25. Photo by Marco Guajardo, Texas AFT. Bottom: Scenes from the four days of convention programming at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. Photos by Mariana Krueger, CCR Studios. This past week, Texas AFT welcomed the 88th biennial national AFT Convention to Houston....
Read MoreThe AFT recently endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign for president! We’re ready to help elect her, ensuring that public school employees’ voices are heard on the national level and that pro-voucher Republicans are kept out of office. If you’d like to show your support for Harris, you can sport a new Texas AFT Educators for Harris T-shirt or bumper...
Read MorePennsylvania GOP megadonor Jeff Yass has given another $4 million to Gov. Greg Abbott to boost the governor’s bid to unseat Texas House Republicans who oppose his private school voucher scam. The donation, revealed in July in a campaign finance report, was Yass’ second major contribution to Abbott this election cycle. The billionaire TikTok investor donated $6 million to Abbott...
Read MoreGiven the recent approvals of four new charter schools by the State Board of Education this summer, we want to revisit the important research that has informed Texas AFT’s continued insistence on a charter school moratorium in this state. First, let’s start with the national education policy think tank Network for Public Education (NPE), which has released many relevant...
Read More