Education Newsfeed

Attendees gather at the 2023 Public Education Advocacy Day, rallying with signs for respect for public schools. Photo by: CCR Studios. For years, conversations about Texas public schools have revolved around test scores, accountability ratings, vouchers, and curriculum fights, but two newer sets of numbers tell a different story about what is happening inside schools across the state. Texas is losing students before graduation, and at the same time, schools are struggling to

The Texas Capitol is stirring to life again after the 2026 primary season with a few big announcements from the top offices in the House and Senate – watch the changes in the Senate especially.

Across Texas, students and faculty at all seven public university systems face efforts to censor student learning and faculty teaching. These efforts have embarrassed Texas institutions of higher education on a national stage and are denying students the rigorous education they need to thrive in their careers after graduation.

On Tuesday, labor-backed candidates won races up and down the ballot, and the energy that has been building in our movement for years has found its fullest expression yet at the polls.

The State Board of Education (SBOE) met in Austin on Feb. 25 for a whirlwind one-day special meeting. On the agenda were items related to instructional materials, the social revision process, civics trainings, and parental rights training. More Than a Handful of Errors After considering a few titles to be removed from the rejected list, the board moved… [ more ]

Something unprecedented is happening in Texas: last Fall, state officials launched investigations into more than 350 educators based on their personal social media posts. Teachers were fired, doxed, and threatened while lawmakers have made some of these threats with impunity. This hypocrisy matters and should be worrisome to anyone that values constitutionality and individual liberties.

When the voucher scheme was signed into law last year, Governor Greg Abbott proclaimed he had delivered “education freedom to every Texas family.” But this billion-dollar giveaway, which opens to parents on February 4, has already enrolled dozens of private schools that openly discriminate against Texas families.

On January 6, Texas AFT filed a federal lawsuit against the Texas Education Agency and Commissioner Mike Morath, challenging their unconstitutional investigation of more than 350 educators for exercising their constitutionally protected First Amendment rights on their personal social media.

The state launched investigations into more than 350 educators in September 2025.

The State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) met in Austin on Dec. 4 and 5 for a lengthy agenda. We provide a deep dive into their discussions regarding educator preparation programs and the impacts of House Bill 2 plus some educator discipline rules.

This week, election results nationwide resulted in decisive wins for candidates in local and state races who focused on real, quality-of-life issues over divisive partisan politics. In Texas, too, several local races underlined the same trend, with record off-year election turnout.

While tax rate elections and bonds by and large failed to pass on Election Day, pro-public education candidates surged in major school board races.

Today, Cy-Fair ISD voters elected three new trustees to set the direction of the school district for the next four years.

Houston Federation of Teachers President Jackie Anderson speaks at a 2024 rally against the Texas Education Agency’s takeover of Houston ISD. When the Texas Education Agency announced its takeover of Fort Worth ISD last week, it marked another flashpoint in a long-brewing conflict over who controls the future of Texas public schools: local communities or the state… [ more ]

For years, Texas AFT and our union’s members have been the lone voice at the Capitol fighting for pay raises for support staff, the indispensable employees who keep our schools running: paraprofessionals, bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers, and more. In 2025, that persistent advocacy paid off with a historic victory: the creation of the Support… [ more ]

On Tuesday, Texas AFT joined ongoing litigation against Senate Bill 12, a new state law that bans gay-straight alliance (GSA) clubs, prevents educators from using students’ chosen names and pronouns, and prohibits diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts from public and charter K-12 schools. The lawsuit, filed by GSA Network and Students Engaged in Advancing Texas… [ more ]

When we began our work on your 89th legislative agenda, working conditions were top of mind for members. One particular issue began to come to the forefront: the right to high-quality affordable childcare. In our 2023-2024 Texas AFT member survey, 45% of educators who needed regular childcare said they had trouble accessing or affording it,… [ more ]

On Thursday, legislators in the Texas House discussed their version of the state budget deep into the night. Hundreds of amendments were proposed, but fewer were actually voted upon, let alone debated. Unfortunately, budget writers affiliated with House leadership made a deal early on to stifle debate on important amendments that would have all but… [ more ]

On Sunday, Jan. 5, surrounded by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and representatives from national unions (including ours), President Joe Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act into law. This landmark legislation repeals the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset, two pieces of federal law that have robbed millions of public servants of Social Security benefits they earned for over 40 years.

Following an aggressive campaign to reshape the Texas Legislature by supporting primary challenges against Republican state representatives who voted against taxpayer-funded private school vouchers in the last legislative session, Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have both designated the passage of universal voucher legislation as their top priority next year and expressed confidence that they finally have the votes necessary to do so.