Publish Date: October 24, 2025 9:40 am Author: Texas AFT
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Friday, October 24, 2025
Members, have you shared your thoughts yet?
As many of you know, the state of Texas doesn’t gather enough data on our schools, and especially not on the working lives of educators. Each year, Texas AFT takes on this task because we know how vital current and accurate data is for our fight to improve educator rights across the state. Your response to our annual membership survey directly informs our union’s priorities and advocacy. In our union, your individual voice makes a difference for our collective work!
You can find the link to the survey in your email inbox. The survey window closes next week, so take a few minutes this weekend to make your voice heard.
And though we desireto improve the work lives of all Texas education employees, this survey is for members only, so please do not share the link with non-members.
Photo courtesy of the Houston Federation of Teachers
This past Saturday, Oct. 18, 7 million Americans turned out to more than 2,700 peaceful marches and nonviolent for the second No Kings Day of action. At least one event took place in all 50 states in opposition to democratic backsliding, as well aslarge global protests led by Americans abroad.
This was the sequel to the No Kings Day of action in June, which drew an estimated 5 million people, as well as the Hands Off! day of action in March, in which 3 million Americans participated.
At Texas State University in San Marcos, Dr. Thomas Alter’s termination has been upheld after a court‐ordered reinstatement. Meanwhile, at the University of Texas at Austin, the administration remains notably silent on President Donald Trump’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.”
These two significant events, themselves part of a larger attack on Texas public universities, mark a continued downward spiral for the right to free speech in higher education.
In a major victory for educators and public service workers, AFT has reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Education, with the Trump Administration agreeing to resume processing student loan forgiveness under the Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) program.
This outcome follows months of legal action and advocacy by AFT, which sued after the administration abruptly halted loan discharges earlier this year, leaving thousands of borrowers in limbo despite years of on-time payments. The settlement ensures that forgiveness for eligible borrowers will restart immediately and that all pending IDR applications will be reviewed and processed in the coming weeks.
Even though Gov. Greg Abbott’s long-sought private school voucher law has been passed and enacted, the fight to support Texas public schools is far from over. Public education advocates across the state are mobilizing for transparency and accountability in what will be one of the largest voucher programs in the nation.
Our Schools Our Democracy (OSOD) has launched a new online hub, “Take Action Against Vouchers,” to help Texans track how the new program unfolds and to stay engaged in defending neighborhood public schools. The site includes key updates, calls to action, and resources to monitor the rollout of the Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA), a voucher program expected to divert over $1 billion in taxpayer funds from public schools during its first two years.
If you work in Texas public schools, you’ve heard about Senate Bill 10, the new law that requires every classroom to display a copy of the Ten Commandments.
Unsurprisingly, the implementation of this law has caused anxiety, confusion, and outrage among educators, parents, and students. There are lawsuits and no shortage of controversy. That’s why Texas AFT wants to hear from our members directly. Join us for a members-only listening session.
Recommended Reading
Education news from around the state and nation that’s worth your time.
📖 3.5 million Texans will see food assistance halted if government shutdown continues. Texas officials began notifying the state’s poorest residents that their food benefits via the Supplemental Food Assistance and Nutrition Program, or SNAP, will be cut off in November if the federal shutdown continues past Oct. 27. In Texas, 3.5 million people rely each month on SNAP,including1.7 million children.(The Texas Tribune, Oct. 17)
📖 Letter to the Editor: Open letter to non-citizen UNT students. In a letter to the editor of the North Texas Daily, University of North Texas AAUP members write, “We … want to express our unwavering solidarity with our student community, especially our non-U.S. citizen students.” (North Texas Daily, Oct. 14)
📖 The Lege’s ‘Big Government Intrusion’ into University Academics. Expanding on last session’s anti-DEI campus crackdown, some Republicans in the Legislature are now going after gender and ethnic studies programs and faculty independence. (Texas Observer, April 24)
🎧 The Shocking Billionaire Plot to Dismantle Public Education. Texas is on the verge of passing a law that could defund public education. Vouchers send public taxpayer dollars to private schools. It could cost taxpayers $10 billion by 2030. And it could destroy Friday Night Lights. (More Perfect Union, April 22)
This Education Department Official Lost His Job. Here’s What He Says Is at Risk. Fewer teachers. Incomplete data. Delays in addressing problems and getting financial aid information. Those are just some of the impacts Jason Cottrell, who worked as a data collector at the Department of Education for nine and a half years before being laid off along with more than a thousand other agency employees, warns the Trump Administration’s massive cuts to the department’s funding and workforce could have on the country’s education system. (Time, July 18)
This Education Department Official Lost His Job. Here’s What He Says Is at Risk. Fewer teachers. Incomplete data. Delays in addressing problems and getting financial aid information. Those are just some of the impacts Jason Cottrell, who worked as a data collector at the Department of Education for nine and a half years before being laid off along with more than a thousand other agency employees, warns the Trump Administration’s massive cuts to the department’s funding and workforce could have on the country’s education system. (Time, July 18)
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