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 25, 2023 Get your yard sign at store.texasaft.org. Use code BTS2023 at checkout for 25% off. All purchases serve as donations to our union’s political fund. The Rise of Educational Intimidation House Bill 900, the Legislature’s book-banning bill passed this year, was in court last week. A U.S. district judge in Austin heard arguments from the Texas book...
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Friday, September 15, 2023 If you work in Texas public schools — K-12 or higher education — and are ready to fight for positive change, we hope you’ll consider joining our fight to #ThriveTogether. join.texasaft.org. New school year, worsening problems We asked a simple question on Facebook last week: “In...
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Friday, September 8, 2023 Source: 2023 Charles Butt Foundation Poll 🎤 Is this thing on? The title of the latest poll from the Charles Butt Foundation says it all: “Listening to the Educator Experience.” Too few in Texas’ halls of power want to do that. That’s probably because instead of...
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Friday, September 1, 2023 Barbie was the hit of the summer. And so are labor unions, as it turns out. Union Made Just before Labor Day, the U.S. Treasury has released a first-of-its-kind report, outlining all the ways that supporting unionization of American workers will benefit the economy and, specifically,...
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Friday, August 18, 2023 Reading opens the world. Will Texas let it? The latest issue of AFT’s American Educator magazine is a special one, dedicated to addressing literacy, learning loss, and loneliness among our students. The goal is to lay out strategies — proven by research and practiced by educators...
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Friday, August 11, 2023 Members of the Houston Federation of Teachers, along with community members, parents, and students, participate in a read-in before the Houston ISD Board of Managers meeting Thursday, Aug. 10. The protest was in response to state-installed Superintendent Mike Miles' plans to close district libraries and transform...
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Friday, August 4, 2023 Alliance/AFT member and Dallas ISD teacher Rosie Curts attends a Houston community protest this summer against TEA’s takeover and Mike Miles’ appointment as superintendent. It starts in Houston. It doesn’t end there. We start this week with a message from Texas AFT President Zeph Capo and...
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Friday, July 28, 2023 Education Austin, Houston Federation of Teachers Presidents Represent Texas at Nation’s Capitol Last week, two Texas AFT local union presidents traveled to Washington D.C. to represent Texas educators on the national stage. Jackie Anderson, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers, journeyed to D.C. to participate...
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Friday, July 21, 2023 The Will to Thrive So far, no statistics have motivated our state leaders to fix the chronic underfunding of our public education system. Not the fact that Texas is 39th in the nation for per-pupil funding of its public schools. Nor the fact that we are...
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Friday, July 14, 2023 ‘Starve, shame, & shutter’ With a $33 billion surplus available, we had high hopes. High hopes that the Texas Legislature would step up and deliver for students, educators, and school employees ahead of the upcoming school year. Yet, here we are, one regular session and two...
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Friday, July 7, 2023 Our schools are back on the menu. If you’ve read even a single edition of the Hotline in the past month, you know: The Texas Legislature ended its regular session without a single new dollar in state funding for public schools and $0 for teacher and...
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This week's Hotline is brought to you by Horace Mann. Friday, June 30, 2023 Daniel Alvarez Photo The state of our union is strong. The state of our schools is on life support. This weekend, for the first time since 2019, Texas AFT members convened in person for our statewide...
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This week's Hotline is brought to you by Horace Mann. Friday, June 23, 2023 One Judson AFT member pictured at Thursday’s school board meeting. Together We Thrive It simply isn’t enough for Texas public schools to survive (which many of them are struggling to do at all, especially in rural...
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