Featured News
Texas AFT 2025 Biennial Convention: All in for Public Schools
The Texas AFT 2025 Biennial Convention in Dallas brought members, delegates, and staff together for a weekend of action, awards, learning, and fun! The festivities kicked off with a march to Senator Ted Cruz’s downtown office to oppose his federal voucher legislation. You can view the rally here, including the moment when our two selected delegates were denied entry into...
Read MoreHouse Public Education Committee Hears Interim Charges
Legislative “Interim Charges”: What Are They and Why Do They Matter? The Texas Legislature meets once every two years for 140 days for its regular legislative session, during which the only bill it is required to pass and send to the governor’s desk to be signed into law is the...
Read MoreInjunction Issued to Halt Controversial A-F labels
This week, as the Texas House Committee on Public Education met to discuss private school vouchers that would syphon tax dollars from our public schools, a Travis County district court issued a temporary injunction to halt the release of the controversial A-F school ratings determined by the governor-appointed commissioner of...
Read MoreTEA Rolls Out New School Safety System: Sentinel
On July 25, Governor Greg Abbott announced the launch of a new school safety system called Sentinel. This new platform-- designed to collect, process, store, and distribute school safety and security information-- is housed within the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and is a part of ongoing school safety and security...
Read MoreThe Flaws in Texas’ English Proficiency Testing Hurt Our Students
English-learning students across Texas have faced an uphill battle with the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS). In 2018, the test was redesigned, and the shift to automated computer scoring has led to a troubling trend — drastically lower scores that don’t seem to reflect students' true abilities, according...
Read MoreTexas ACLU Finds Dress Codes of 51 School Districts Violate CROWN Act
In 2023, Greg Abbott signed HB 567, also known as the Crown Act, into law to ban hair discrimination in schools and workplaces. Since then, many school districts have altered their dress codes to adjust to the new regulations put in place by the CROWN Act. However, the ACLU of...
Read MoreHorace Mann is giving away $50,000 in prizes to help you get Set for Success for another school year!
Horace Mann is a long-time corporate supporter. Enter their sweepstakes for your chance to be one of 100 lucky winners who will take home a $250* gift card to either Target or Amazon. And if you win a gift card,...
Read MoreNEXT WEEK: Texas House Public Education Committee Hearings on Aug. 12-13
Next week, the Texas House Public Education Committee will hold critical hearings on Monday, Aug. 12, and Tuesday, Aug. 13. The committee will discuss key issues shaping public education's future in our state. These hearings provide an opportunity for us to make our voices heard and influence upcoming legislation. What...
Read MoreAug. 2, 2024: Back to School. Back to the Legislature
Friday, August 2, 2024 Back to School. Back to the Legislature. Interim committee hearings are an essential part of the Texas legislative process between regular legislative sessions. The Texas House Public Education Committee is holding critical hearings on Monday, Aug. 12, and Tuesday, Aug. 13, on issues that are...
Read MoreUrgent Action: Testify or Submit Public Comments to the House Public Education Committee
Interim committee hearings are an essential part of the Texas legislative process between regular legislative sessions. The Texas House Public Education Committee is holding critical hearings on Monday, Aug. 12, and Tuesday, Aug. 13, on issues that are having or will have a profound impact on the future of public...
Read MoreAFT Convention 2024: Progress Is Possible, Not Guaranteed
Top: AFT convention delegates and guests listen to Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday, July 25. Photo by Marco Guajardo, Texas AFT. Bottom: Scenes from the four days of convention programming at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. Photos by Mariana Krueger, CCR Studios. This past week, Texas...
Read MoreNew Harris for President merch added to Texas AFT store
The AFT recently endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign for president! We’re ready to help elect her, ensuring that public school employees’ voices are heard on the national level and that pro-voucher Republicans are kept out of office. If you’d like to show your support for Harris, you can sport...
Read MoreBillionaires are buying politicians in Texas. What are we going to do about it?
Pennsylvania GOP megadonor Jeff Yass has given another $4 million to Gov. Greg Abbott to boost the governor’s bid to unseat Texas House Republicans who oppose his private school voucher scam. The donation, revealed in July in a campaign finance report, was Yass’ second major contribution to Abbott this election...
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