Publish Date: September 12, 2025 1:45 pm Author: Texas AFT
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Friday, September 12, 2025
Nickels and dimes
Every back-to-school season, public school teachers and staff across the country spend hundreds of dollars out-of-pocket on food and classroom supplies for their students. This year is no exception — and the burden has been made more acute by recent federal cuts.
A recent AFT survey of over 700 K-12 educators from across the country found that half (49.5%) say they anticipate needing to purchase food for their students this year, citing the end of COVID-era federal nutrition assistance and looming cuts to SNAP thanks to the federal budget reconciliation bill passed earlier this year.
The Trump Administration’s tariffs and rising inflation only make things worse for educators trying to stretch their personal salaries to continue serving their students.
During the 89th legislative session, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 13, which significantly changes how public school libraries across the state select, review, and manage books and instructional materials. The law, which took effect on Sept. 1, creates new barriers to access and hands greater decision-making power to school boards and external, ostensibly parent-dominated councils.
According to analysis from the Education Law Center, the proposal eliminates or consolidates multiple existing programs and slashes resources that fund English learner instruction, after-school programs, arts and technology, and student wellness supports. For Texas, the impact would be particularly severe, with districts across the state projected to lose millions of dollars that sustain critical services.
Free speech in higher education is on the line for students and faculty, that much has been made crystal clear in recent days.
Senate Bill 2972, which limits expressive activities on campuses, went into effect on Sept. 1. Already, faculty members, including tenured professors, are being terminated in an instant if their speech — inside or outside the classroom — generates enough controversy online. However, the higher education community will not let this happen without a fight.
State Rep. Alma A. Allen announced last week that she will retire at the end of her term in 2026, closing out more than two decades in the Texas House and nearly six decades in education and public service.
Since her election to the Texas Legislature in 2004, Allen has been a consistent advocate for Texas students and educators. She played a pivotal role in advancing the 2019 school finance reform package, one of the most consequential education funding bills in recent memory. She has also stood firm against voucher schemes, warning that siphoning resources to private schools would harm public education.
The State Board for Educator Certification will meet in Austin on Thursday and Friday, Sept. 18-19. The meeting will take place over two days with many discussion items and will include a new component to the proceedings.
As most all of us are aware, the first statewide voucher program passed in Texas this spring. Even so, there is an opportunity to make impact on how this program is rolled out, through Sept. 20.
We encourage you to submit a public comment to the Texas Comptroller’s office through thisonline action from IDRA. Remind our leaders that students are the priority when it comes to education, not the vendors who want to make a profit off of them.
Education news from around the state and nation that’s worth your time.
📖Professors want to leave Texas because of tense political climate, survey says. Many Texas professors are looking for jobs in different states, citing a climate of fear and anxiety on their college campuses due to increased political interference, according to a recent survey conducted by the American Association of University Professors. (The Texas Tribune, Sept. 5)
📖 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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