It isn’t enough for our public schools to survive. Our students in Killeen — and across Texas — deserve schools that help them thrive.
It’s Your Time to Thrive
Our fight to thrive is about creating respectful working conditions with more planning time, fewer added duties and extra paperwork, resources to prevent burnout before it starts, and a defined workday that doesn’t require us to sacrifice our personal lives for our jobs.
Our state’s leaders have let us down, depriving our schools of necessary funding, denying pay raises to hard-working teachers and staff, and defunding our students’ pathways to success. That includes your representative, Rep. Brad Buckley.
Our union’s professional development and advocacy programs help members across the state create a school culture that allows both employees and students to thrive. Those in charge may not take care of us — but we take care of us.
Working Conditions Tracker
Sign up today to track the real issues in our public schools. Each week from Sept. 15-Oct. 15, we’ll email you a form to track certain working condions.
Support & Mentor Hotline
Have questions? Our network of experienced professionals are available to provide advice to assist your classroom needs.
Free Online Resource
Share My Lesson is the a free tool for educators, managed by AFT. Access resources and webinars, including a survival guide for new teachers.
Our Fight to Thrive in Texas
When we say public school employees can #ThriveTogether, we mean it. Real meaningful change for ourselves, our students, and our public schools is possible if we stand and work together. Click to join our movement today.
The 88th legislative session was a lost session for public education in Texas. It ended without any meaningful improvements to help teachers, school staff, or students — and it left many school districts, especially in rural Texas, struggling just to survive.
A big reason is because state officials like Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and your representative, Brad Buckley, chased private school vouchers instead of tackling real priorities for educators, parents, and students.
Rep. Brad Buckley (R-Killeen) was chairman of the House Public Education Committee. Not only did he take a pass on a vote to stop vouchers and vote to deny your pay raise, but he let bills that would have lowered class sizes, lightened your workload, and reduced STAAR testing die in his committee.
SCHOOL FUNDING
Texas spends roughly $3,314 less per student than the national average each year. That adds up to about $18 billion less spent on Texas public schools than elsewhere in the United States. All this, even though our state has the world’s ninth-largest economy.
The 88th Legislature failed to put any new dollars into the base level of funding our schools get. Instead, lawmakers chased school vouchers.
SCHOOL STAFFING
Underfunding costs our students programs, extracurriculars, and chronic understaffing of educators and school staff who support them every day. 70% of Texas AFT members surveyed in 2022 said they were thinking of quitting, which is causing a staffing crisis.
The 88th Legislature refused to provide raises for any Texas school employee or even take up bills that would reduce class sizes.
SCHOOL SAFETY
Lack of resources and respect also makes our schools less safe. 98% of Texas students attend a school without proper staffing of nurses, counselors, & psychologists. And 90% of school employees worry their campus could be the site of a mass shooting.
The 88th Legislature did nothing to reduce gun violence and put just 28 cents more per student into the school safety fund.
The Path to Thriving Texas Schools
The state of Texas can afford #SchoolstoThrive. In a 2022 report, Texas AFT and Every Texan put a price tag on a different future, one in which lawmakers prioritize respect for public schools and their employees and one in which we work together to build a public education system that helps Texas children thrive.