Every week, Texas AFT compiles important news, updates, and information on public education policy in Texas. The Hotline covers a wide range of topics, including statewide education news, updates from the legislative session, and our current union campaigns.
Friday, August 29, 2025 This coming Monday is Labor Day, an annual recognition of union members who make up the American labor movement and who have worked tirelessly over decades to build a fairer, safer, and better country for all. This year, we feel a profound sense of urgency around that continued, collective work. Whether we work in schools,...
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Friday, September 5, 2025 The No STAAR State On Wednesday, the Texas Legislature closed out its second special session by passing a bill that will replace STAAR with a through-year testing regimen that will mean more but (allegedly) shorter tests for students. Lawmakers have begun their celebratory pronouncements. Rep. Brad...
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Friday, August 22, 2025 The Ten Commandments There is never a back-to-school season without chaos, at least not lately. But this year, the number of policy changes and overall uncertainty that educators, parents, students, and districts are contending with is off the charts. One source of that uncertainty has...
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Friday, August 15, 2025 The Grift Is On If you read this newsletter regularly, you know that the education landscape is changing, and not necessarily for the better. Over the next year, Texas will prepare to implement Gov. Greg Abbott’s long-sought private school voucher program. Just this week, we...
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Friday, August 8, 2025 The Future of Texas Public Over the next year, this state’s leaders will plan and implement a private school voucher program. The ripple effect of this third taxpayer-funded school system (after public schools and charter schools) will be enormous. Just this week, reports surfaced of...
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Friday, August 1, 2025 We fight. We win. Last week, Texas AFT joined over a dozen school districts, parent groups, and educator unions in a lawsuit against the Trump Administration's attempt to withhold $6 billion in funding set aside for our nation's schools and students. Our pushback paid off....
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Friday, July 25, 2025 Don’t Agonize. Organize! One of these years, we desperately hope we’ll have an uneventful – dare we hope, even boring – back-to-school season. But that is not going to be this year. News breaks every day that has broad, often concerning, implications for our schools,...
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Friday, July 18, 2025 Two Federal Threats to Public Schools This week, Texas AFT hosted the first session of our Summer School briefings for public school employees and parents, trying to make sense of all the state and national changes affecting our schools, colleges, and universities. On the call,...
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Friday, July 11, 2025 Who’s on the side of working Texans? Earlier this week — a week of tragedy for so many Texas families — the Texas AFL-CIO officially released its Pro-Worker Scorecard for our state representatives and senators. This is BIG NEWS. By making this data publicly available,...
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Friday, July 4, 2025 Summer School is in session We wish each of you a happy and safe Independence Day and holiday weekend. As it so often does, summer seems to be flying by. Before you know it, the school year will be here (sorry). Between federal government actions...
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Friday, June 27, 2025 We’re All In. If there is one message you retained from our 2025 Biennial Convention, it is that our fight isn’t over; it’s just getting started. As many of our speakers pointed out, the forces we’re up against have strength that only money can buy. ...
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Friday, June 13, 2025 Looking Back (from left to right): Brownsville Educators Stand Together members presenting a resolution to the school board, Spring AFT members unboxing books for a Reading Opens the World event, and Texas AFT United members meeting with legislative staff. The Work of Our Union Next...
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Friday, June 6, 2025 Downloadable poster available with other immigration resources from AFT. A nightmare for Dreamers On Wednesday, within hours of a federal lawsuit filed against Texas over our state’s decades-old DREAM Act, Attorney General Ken Paxton readily sold out the future of our state and urged the court...
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