Featured News
April 19, 2024: In the Room
Friday, April 19, 2024 This past Tuesday, April 16, the U.S. House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security held a meeting to discuss the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO), two provisions that heavily penalize many Texas educators and public employees. AFT members from across the country were there, meeting with legislators and observing the proceedings....
Read MoreApril 5, 2024: Starting April Strong
Friday, April 4, 2024 April 3 tweet from state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, whose district includes the University of Texas at Austin. Happy Celebrate Diversity Month ... Though April is nominally Celebrate Diversity Month, its first week in Texas this year has been far from joyous. In response to heightening pressure...
Read MoreSBOE Preview: What’s on the April Agenda & What’s Conspicuously Not
While the rest of Texas basks in the total eclipse afterglow, the State Board of Education (SBOE) will begin its regular meeting in Austin on Tuesday, April 9.
Read MoreAmid Attacks on Higher Education, Texas AAUP Votes to Affiliate with Texas AFT
Last Saturday, members of the Texas Conference of the American Association of University Professors voted to affiliate with the Texas American Federation of Teachers.
Read MoreEquality Texas Launches LGBTQ+ Campus Climate Project
Senate Bill 17 mandates the closure of diversity, equity, and inclusion offices on Texas campuses and prohibits mandatory diversity training, raising concerns about the inclusivity of higher education environments.
Read MoreTexas AFT Political Action Committee Announces 2nd Round of Election Endorsements
Texas AFT’s Committee on Political Education (COPE), our union’s political arm, is proud to announce its second round of endorsements for the upcoming primary runoffs and 2024 general election.
Read MoreEscalation of “Electioneering” Crackdown: Denton ISD Principals Indicted for Alleged Criminal Election Interference
In a remarkable escalation of the politically motivated legal attacks against seven local school districts accused of violating state “electioneering” laws that prohibit the use of public resources to express support for or opposition to a specific candidate, party, or...
Read MoreMarch 29, 2024: Why We Keep Going
Friday, March 29, 2024 Why we keep going As has become the norm, much of the news we have for you this week is bleak. In times like these, as districts announce cuts and layoffs and as the attacks on education from the state government continue, many teachers and...
Read MoreUpdate: American Indian/Native Studies Course Still in SBOE Limbo
As of this writing, the agenda for the April meeting of the State Board of Education has yet to be posted, and so we anxiously await whether the proposed American Indian/Native Studies course will finally be on the agenda for first reading.
Read MoreSBOE Chair Divests $8.5 Billion in Public School Funding. What Comes Next?
Earlier this week, Texas AFT released a statement condemning Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) Chairman Aaron Kinsey’s unilateral decision to divest $8.5 billion in Permanent School Fund assets from wealth manager BlackRock, ostensibly in response to 2021’s Senate Bill 13. On March 19, Kinsey issued a formal statement to...
Read MorePublic Education on the Ballot: New Elected Positions to be Filled in May 4 Local Elections Will Decide Who Controls Local Property Tax Revenue
Texas voters will cast their ballots for three new elected positions in the local elections to be held on May 4. This local election date is separate from the May 28 uniform election date on which runoff elections will be...
Read MoreWhat Happened to Attorney General Ken Paxton’s “Electioneering” Lawsuits Against 7 School Districts?
In the weeks leading up to the March 5 primary elections, Attorney General Ken Paxton took the unusual step of filing lawsuits against seven school districts (Denton, Aledo, Denison, Castleberry, Hutto, Huffman, and Frisco ISDs) accusing them of unlawful “electioneering.”...
Read MoreRecommended Viewing: TEA Releases HB 1605 Webinar on Limits to Teacher Duties, Responsibilities
Earlier this month, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) held a long-awaited webinar in its House Bill (HB) 1605 series, Planning and Non-Instructional Duties of Teachers. The webinar provides an overview of the new statutory protections of planning time for classroom teachers and guidance on the supplemental duty agreement with a...
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