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Texas Legislature convenes for third Special Session
Photo: Sen. José Menéndez speaks on the Senate floor Wednesday. On Monday, the Texas Legislature convened for a third special session called by Gov. Greg Abbott to address redistricting, ban vaccine mandates, restrict transgender athletes, appropriate federal stimulus money, and outlaw certain tethering of dogs in unsafe conditions. On Wednesday, just two weeks after his initial announcement of the special...
Read MoreReport: Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for 5- to 11-year-old children is safe and effective; provides ‘robust’ antibody responses
Pfizer announced this week that recent trials showed its COVID-19 vaccine was safe and effective in children ages 5 to 11. The trial included 2,268 participants ages 5 to 11 and used a two-dose vaccine regimen administered 21 days apart....
Read MoreNew TEA guidance on masks stirs the legal pot on mask mandates and spurs a federal investigation
See Texas AFT’s COVID-19 Resource Page for info on how to take action and stay safe. The U.S. Department of Education is launching an investigation of Gov. Greg Abbott’s order prohibiting mask mandates, which federal officials said could break federal law and discriminate against students with disabilities. The USDOE has...
Read MoreTRS gets green light to build new headquarters, with no impact to health of pension fund
TRS graphic The Teacher Retirement System of Texas Board on Friday approved a plan to build a new agency headquarters north of downtown Austin, a move that officials said would save TRS money and not impact the soundness of the retiree pension fund or plans for cost-of-living increases. TRS plans...
Read MoreTexas AFT Endorses Farias and Ramirez in House District 118 Special Election
Katie Farias Frank Ramirez Texas AFT proudly endorses two public education allies in the House District 118 special election on Sept. 28: Katie Farias and Frank Ramirez. Early voting has begun in this special election and continues through Friday, Sept. 24. Election Day is Tuesday, Sept. 28. Here's why educators...
Read MoreSeptember 17, 2020: 13th check TRS pension update; Florida cancels standardized testing…time to nix STAAR!; Bills from 2nd special session signed
13th check for TRS retirees planned for delivery in January The Teacher Retirement System of Texas will deliver a supplemental pension payment—a 13th check—to retirees in January after the budget bill funding is signed by the governor. TRS members who...
Read MoreGov. Greg Abbott needs to follow Florida governor’s lead and cancel standardized testing in Texas
For Immediate Release: September 20, 2021 Contact: Rob D’Amico, 512-627-1343, rdamico@texasaft.org Florida leaves Texas behind on standardized testing Last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the end of standardized testing in Florida. Given that news, the Texas American Federation of Teachers...
Read More13th check for TRS retirees planned for delivery in January
September 20 Update: The legislation funding the 13th check (HB 5) was signed into law by the governor on September 19. The supplemental payment process will move forward as planned. The Teacher Retirement System of Texas will deliver a supplemental pension payment—a 13th check—to retirees in January after the budget...
Read MoreSignature from governor finalizes some bills from second special session
Update: SB 3 and SB 9 were both signed into law by the governor, on Sunday, September 19. Third special session starts Monday Since the second called session of the Texas Legislature ended two weeks ago, Gov. Greg Abbott has been signing the passed legislation into law. One of the...
Read MoreFlorida announces end to standardized testing; will Texas follow?
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has announced the end of standardized testing in his state. Gov. Greg Abbott usually copies DeSantis' every move, so we want to voice our support for the governor to add legislation to this third special session's agenda that cancels STAAR permanently. If we want to copy all the...
Read MoreSocial Studies TEKS Review Work Group application
The State Board of Education (SBOE) will soon begin the review and revision of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for K-12 social studies. The SBOE’s TEKS review and revision process calls for multiple, separate work groups to make recommendations to the SBOE for revisions to the current standards....
Read MoreSept. 10, 2021: Texas AFT sues state to block voter suppression bill; New special session on the way; AFT’s Randi Weingarten visits Texas
Texas AFT joins in lawsuit to protect access to voting after voter suppression bill is signed into law Texas AFT sued state election officials Tuesday to block the provisions of Senate Bill 1 (signed into law the same day), which...
Read MoreTexas AFT joins in lawsuit to protect access to voting after voter suppression bill is signed into law
Texas AFT sued state election officials Tuesday to block the provisions of Senate Bill 1 (signed into law the same day), which reduces access to and suppresses voting for Texans. Also suing in the petition are Voto Latino, LULAC Texas,...
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