Empowered educators produce engaged students. History consistently shows how unions can raise the bar for all of us. That is acutely true of our children’s teachers and school staff whose working conditions are children’s learning conditions. If educators have a voice in their workplace, free from fear of retaliation, they can negotiate and win better working and learning environments — the same right that firefighters and police officers, their fellow public employees, already have codified in Texas state law.
It’s time for Texas educators to have the right to collectively bargain so we can finally achieve a public education system that works for every Texan.
We applaud Rep. Lauren Ashley Simmons, a former union organizer and Houston ISD parent, for filing House Bill 1077 during the 89th Legislative Session. The bill would:
- Repeal collective bargaining prohibition for all public employees, extending this crucial right that is currently only available to firefighters and police
- Allow bargaining of contracts regarding wages, hours, and working conditions
Simmons knows from personal experience how learning and working conditions can deteriorate when state appointees take over our public schools, eliminating community and educator input. When educators and school support staff have a voice in the workplace, student learning conditions improve.
Unfortunately, instead of HB 1077, what gained traction this session were bills that would diminish our collective voice. Senate Bill 2330 was a direct attack on public school employees and public servants across Texas. The bill would have prohibited teachers, correctional officers, Child Protective Services workers, and other public employees from using payroll deduction to pay their union or professional dues — a secure, voluntary, and cost-free system widely used for decades. teachers, correctional officers, Child Protective Services workers, and other public employees from using payroll deduction to pay their union or professional dues — a secure, voluntary, and cost-free system widely used for decades.
The bill also unfairly picked favorites among public employees, exempting police, firefighters, and EMS personnel from its restrictions, while targeting teachers and other frontline state workers. When asked why, supporters of the bill offer no clear justification; that’s because this is only a political attempt to weaken educator voice and advocacy. Fortunately, this bill did not cross the finish line this session, but we have seen similar bills filed for years and expect that it may resurface in the future.
It is because union members’ collective voice is so powerful that we have seen unprecedented attacks to eliminate union contracts and collective bargaining agreements through executive order, which continues to undergo court challenge. Considering the wealth and power at the source of these attacks on working people, we quote Franklin D. Roosevelt and “welcome their hatred.”
We Fight, We Win
When elected officials fail our schools, your union does not hesitate to respond.
This summer, Texas AFT joined over a dozen school districts, parent groups, and educator unions from across the country in a lawsuit against the Trump Administration’s attempt to withhold $6 billion in funding appropriated by Congress for public schools and students. Within two weeks of filing the lawsuit, the administration backed down, releasing funds to districts, including over $660 million to Texas public schools.
Nationally, AFT has been at the forefront of challenging this administration’s reckless and brazen destruction of the Department of Education and the key functions it performs. Just this month, our union won its latest victory when a federal judge ruled in our favor, declaring that Trump’s efforts to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at schools, colleges, and universities is unconstitutional.
Organizing Works
In April, the San Antonio Alliance delivered over 1,500 signatures in support of the Educator’s Bill of Rights and persuaded the San Antonio ISD board to approve the largest of its proposed compensation packages with:
- 3% raises for teachers and professional staff
- 4% raises for hourly employees
- 2 additional teacher planning days
- Peace Rooms to support student mental health
In May, Northside AFT flipped their district’s board to a union-backed majority.
- Four of the seven trustees are now union-endorsed, including all three officer positions.
- And they did so against charter school PACs bankrolled by billionaires like Reed Hastings, the co-founder of Netflix.
This spring, the Bastrop Federation of Teachers won concessions from district administrators based on survey data from their members:
- return of behavioral intervention specialists to campuses
- expanded DAEP campuses
- agreement to a policy requiring administrators to sub at least one day per semester
This summer, our Associate Membership Program members in Judson ISD fought for and won the inclusion of dyslexia specialists in the state-mandated raises from House Bill 2.
Last month, Alliance/AFT members in Dallas ISD won a $2 million victory. Roughly 2,700 teachers in the district will see an additional salary bump for this school year because our members advocated for them to get the full amount that they were owed under HB 2.
Last but certainly not least, our RGV AFT members in Hidalgo ISD just won one of the biggest pay raise packages we’ve seen anywhere this year, with their board going above and beyond what was expected from HB 2: $5,000-12,000 raises for all teachers and a 6% raise for certified staff and hourly employees.
These wins are not accidental. They represent the hard work and long hours of our members and our local leaders.
While Texans remain under the seemingly unbreakable control of “right to work” forces and as state censorship is creeping into our classrooms, your union membership and protection is more important than ever.
When the government fails to protect those who grant them authority to govern, we must continue to organize at every level to ensure workers are respected and students thrive. This means continuing to lean into our collective power, demanding a seat at the table where decisions are made, and speaking up loud and proud when change is needed.
Our kids are worth it, and so are we.