Featured News
Quorum break doesn’t excuse longstanding legislative inaction on educator pensions
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 15, 2021CONTACT: Rob D'Amico, 512-627-1343, rdamico@texasaft.org Texas AFT President Zeph Capo commented today on the importance of preserving and enhancing voter rights and the debate over retired educators’ pensions: Texas AFT has stood up for retired educators session after session, demanding supplemental TRS payments and cost-of-living adjustments. These pleas often go unheard; in this year’s regular...
Read MoreHouse Speaker issues border-related assignments to committees
Last week, Texas Speaker of the House Dade Phelan issued interim charges for 12 Texas Legislature committees. Each committee’s charges are related to the Texas-Mexico border. Along with specific charges related to their work, each committee received a general directive from the speaker to review the distribution of federal pandemic recovery...
Read MoreDepartment of Education sends letter to TEA on COVID-19 relief funds
On June 30, the Department of Education wrote to the Texas Education Agency and Commissioner of Education Mike Morath about the agency’s plans for the state’s federal COVID-19 relief for education. As we and other education advocates have noted, TEA released the bulk of remaining federal aid to schools in...
Read MoreTexas AFT Convention: Officers re-elected, 9 resolutions passed
Texas AFT convened its 30th biennial convention (and our first virtual convention) on June 25. With the theme “We Fight, We Win,” convention speakers and updates highlighted not only the challenges of the past year (both pandemic and political) but the victories hard-won by our members and leaders. Underscoring those...
Read MoreMourning the loss of our union’s ‘happy warrior’
“While bargaining in education remains elusive, we will have Sharon’s years of activist building and steward training in Texas AFT to thank when we finally reach our goal of a bargained contract.”Texas AFT President Zeph Capo Sharon Cole Sharon Cole, one of the early trainers for what we were then known...
Read MoreLocal Leader Spotlight: John Burghduff, President of AFT-Lone Star College
Group photo of AFT-Lone Star College members and leaders AFT-Lone Star College was founded in 1980, and in its 41 years, the union has boasted some impressive leadership. Kevin Bailey, the first AFT-Lone Star College president, went on to become a member of the Texas House of Representatives. He was...
Read MoreJune 28, 2021: SBOE vetoes 4 new charter schools, special session date set
SBOE vetoes 4 of 7 new charter applicants The commissioner of education approved seven new charter applicants in June, and the State Board of Education last week had the opportunity to hear from each to determine whether to allow or veto each application. After these hearings, SBOE denied four of...
Read MoreTEA releases guidance on remote instruction options for districts
The Texas Education Agency released a document outlining the rules and procedures needed for districts to offer remote instruction — outside of the Texas Virtual School Network (TVSN) — for the coming school year. With a few rare exceptions, these remote students are not eligible for Average Daily Attendance funding...
Read MoreGovernor sets special session date for July 8
Last Tuesday, Gov. Greg Abbott set a date for a special legislative session: July 8. Abbott did not set the agenda for what can be considered in that special session yet. But he previously has stated that the session will at least cover Senate Bill 7, the voter suppression bill...
Read MoreSBOE vetoes 4 of 7 new charter applicants
The commissioner of education approved seven new charter applicants in June, and the State Board of Education last week had the opportunity to hear from each to determine whether to allow or veto each application. After these hearings, SBOE denied four of the seven applicants. Despite evidence that public schools...
Read MoreJune 21, 2021: Gov. signals more legislation on race curriculum; Local unions win pay raises; Take action to stop charter expansion
Texas AFT will be holding its virtual state convention on Friday and Saturday. You can follow highlights and news from the convention on our Facebook and Twitter accounts. Tell our State Board of Education to reject charter expansion One...
Read MoreJune 14, 2021: The intersection of immigration and education advocacy; Immigrant Heritage Month; Voter registration
Texas AFT Higher Education Committee explores the 'Intersection of Immigration and Education' “We do this work because the experiences of our students and our wider community, and our work can not be separated.” That sentiment from Karen Reyes, an Austin...
Read MoreLocal unions successful in winning pay raises, retention bonuses
Unlike 2019’s state legislation that sent new money to school districts for required pay increases, local school boards are responsible for all compensation changes. Our local unions have been working on campaigns for the past two months pushing for higher pay for all school employees. Here’s a list of recent...
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