We have prepared this online Back-to-School Resource Bank to provide you and your family with important issue and benefit updates.
We build power by increasing participation in the union movement, by winning elections and the public narrative, and by engaging members and communities. Building community inside and outside our union is about creating concentric circles of trust, forming coalitions and using campaigns as an organizing principle. As a union of professionals, we want what the children, families and communities we serve need.
Make Updates | Thrive | Sign Up
Message from Zeph Capo, Texas AFT President
Zeph Capo, Texas AFT President | On behalf of the 66,000 members of the Texas American Federation of Teachers (AFT), we are excited to have you safely return for the 2024-2025 school year. This page provides information about member benefits and materials related to important topics and issues we will be working on together over the next year, including our Thrive Campaign. Share our collective work with your co-workers and invite them to join our union.
Together We Thrive
Thrive with Texas AFT
0ur union is the strongest voice for Texas public school employees. Not only do we fight back against private school vouchers (and other schemes to defund our schools), we fight forward to win the respect we need and the resources to help our students thrive. The media has dubbed Texas AFT the “most aggressive of Texas’ four teacher groups” for our efforts to keep our schools safe, increase pay for all school staff (including retirees), and improve our working conditions.
Our fight to thrive is about creating respectful working conditions with more planning time, fewer added duties and extra paperwork, resources to prevent burnout before it starts, and a defined work day that doesn’t require us to sacrifice our personal lives for our jobs. Our union’s professional development and advocacy programs help members create a school culture that allows both employees and students to thrive.
You Have the Political Power to Make Big Changes. Are You Ready to Make a Difference?
We have battled through a global pandemic, and we have fought together through multiple legislative sessions this year. Now is our time to make our voices heard and to make real change. To do that, though, we need to fund our future. Help us by (1) making a voluntary contribution to help us elect pro-public school candidates; (2) become a political volunteer; and (3) if you are savvy with social media, then join our Texas AFT Digital Organizing Squad. Together, we can make a difference.
Member Benefits | The Power of Union Membership
AFT+ Member Benefits Guide
As an Texas AFT member, you belong to a community of colleagues. We understand the power of joining together— in our work, in our communities and in the marketplace. At AFT, we have our own marketplace—AFT + Member Benefits—which combines the purchasing power of AFT’s 1.7 million members with the benefit offerings of Union Plus, the AFL-CIO’s benefit arm. This gives you a rich array of discounts, services and benefits that go beyond the workplace. Many of these programs are available to family members, too.
Share My Lesson | Back-to-School Resources
As we head back to school and to a new normal this fall, join our community, Share My Lesson, where you can find and share resources and ideas on topics such as safely reopening schools, hybrid and distance learning, social emotional support, anti-racism education and more. Register here for all new back-to-school webinars.
Share My Lesson Brochures
Know Your Rights
Use our Know Your Rights resource pages to learn more about your rights as a public school employee in the workplace, including your rights to join a union or enjoy a duty-free lunch. You can access our library of Know Your Rights resources. If you have any questions about an experience on the job, contact us at 1-800-222-3827.
Professional Learning & You
As a member of the American Federation of Teachers, you have access to a variety of programs and resources designed to enhance your professional growth. This brochure highlights many of these opportunities. You can also visit aft.org/education, email edissues@aft.org or contact your local union. By addressing the professional needs of our educator members, we are able to help them become even more successful in their careers; in their union; in the institutions in which they work; and in serving the students, families and communities they serve.
Managing Student Behavior
Our union provides many resources and workshops helping our members manage student behavior. Use these resources as a guide and sign up for a future workshop hosted by our Texas AFT Bridges Institute for Professional Development.
Trauma Counseling Program
AFT members work hard—now more than ever—to educate, heal, help and serve our communities. Sometimes our ownstress is compounded by a personal or workplace trauma; still, we struggle to be fully present for others. Now the AFT is offering a new, free benefit—trauma counseling—to provide help and healing for our members, whenever needed, wherever a member may be.
Summer | Student Loan Benefit
Support for our members with student debt doesn’t end when they leave the debt clinic. AFT has partnered with Summer—an online resource that helps borrowers navigate the student loan repayment landscape.
Summer’s borrower success team helps our members enroll in and manage the paperwork for income-driven repayment and Public Service Loan Forgiveness, find other debt relief programs that are available, and tailor student loan repayment options to their individual needs.
Hurricane & Emergency Preparedness Resources
In Times of Great Need, We Stand #UnionStrong with Our Members
Hurricane season has started, and communities in the Caribbean, up and down the Atlantic and along the Gulf Coast are all in the potential hurricane zone. While federal and state government will help, our union family must respond to this crisis, just as we have done with previous disasters. On our Disaster Relief & Emergency Preparedness page, we’ve collected various resources that can help our fellow union members, friends and family in the wake of disaster.
Organizing Materials | Build Union Power at Your Worksite
Ask Your Co-Workers to Join You
Download and share these organizing materials with your co-workers. Ask others to join you in your movement to win respect. Additional details may be found at:
General Organizing Flyer (PDF)
Click here to download and share with your coworkers.
Comparison Chart (PDF)
Click here to download and share with your coworkers.
Social Media | Like + Follow + Engage
- Texas AFT Page | Click to Like & Follow
- You Know You Work in TX Schools When | Click to Like & Follow
- School House Votes Private Group | Click to Like & Follow
- Texas AFT T-TESS Page | Click to Like & Follow
- Bridges Institute for Professional Development Page | Click to Like & Follow
- Texas AFT Retiree Plus | Click to Like & Follow
- Texas AFT Page | Click to Follow @TexasAFT
- Texas AFT Page | Click to Follow @TexasAFT
YouTube
- Texas AFT Channel | Click to Subscribe
