At a time when 66% of our members tell us they’re thinking of leaving education because of stagnant pay, out-of-control workloads, concerns for their safety, and a general lack of respect, our union knows it’s more important than ever to elect candidates who aren’t just “pro-education,” but also pro-educator.
With that in mind, we proudly announce our union’s endorsements for statewide office this November. No single person or office can solve the retention crisis our schools are facing. We need change, up and down the ballot.
- Governor: Beto O’Rourke
- Lieutenant Governor: Mike Collier
- Attorney General: Rochelle Garza
- Comptroller of Public Accounts: Janet T. Dudding
- Commissioner of General Land Office: Jay Kleberg
- Commissioner of Agriculture: Susan Hays
- Railroad Commissioner: Luke Warford
- Texas Supreme Court, Place 3: Erin A. Nowell
- Texas Supreme Court, Place 5: Amanda Reichek
- Texas Supreme Court, Place 9: Julia Maldonado
- Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 5: Dana Huffman
- Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 6: Robert Johnson
Why These Endorsements Matter
We need a governor committed to appointing someone with classroom experience to oversee the Texas Education Agency.
We need a lieutenant governor who will push a meaningful increase to the basic allotment that funds our schools through the Legislature.
We need an attorney general who will focus on actual priorities instead of bullying our trans students and suing our school districts for enforcing mask mandates.
We need officials at every level committed to fully funding our schools and who respect all those who work and learn in them. If you’re committed to electing these candidates and demanding the respect we deserve, please sign and share our Respect Pledge. We’ll be asking every candidate to sign on, too.
Beto v. Abbott Public Education
The Texas gubernatorial race is tightening between Gov. Greg Abbott and Democratic nominee Beto O’Rourke. Beto believes that public education should be about our children. However, Greg Abbott has already underfunded Texas schools by $4,000 per student compared to the national average, while forcing educators to focus more on standardized testing instead of preparing our kids for college and career. Beto has committed to fully funding public schools by investing in teachers and school support staff – increasing their salaries, strengthening their health care, and ensuring that they can retire without stressing over how to pay their bills.
Beto’s opponent Greg Abbott is advocating to defund public schools with school voucher programs that will put more resources into unregulated private schools, charters, and home schools. He’s telling parents that they have the option to attend private schools using taxpayer dollars, which will take away from many already struggling urban and rural public schools.
Texas AFT has long opposed vouchers of any kind, and Beto is joining the fight and has declared, “If we want to see better jobs in this state, and want Texans to actually work them, we’ve got to improve our pre-K through community college systems of education in the state of Texas.” Beto understands the power of public education and why we must fight to continue to support our public schools and educators.