Featured News
SBOE Recap: Rules Approved, SBEC Cautioned
The State Board of Education gathered in Austin from April 9-12 for what promised to be consequential meetings related to educator certification, as well as other topics important to our members. Tuesday has become “instructional materials day” on the SBOE’s agenda. Texas Education Agency (TEA) staff presented an update on the inaugural instructional materials review and adoption process (IMRA) and a...
Read MorePoll shows Abbott on the wrong side of Texas parents, voters, and teachers with vouchers push
A Texas Parent PAC poll of likely Texas voters released this week shows how Governor Greg Abbott is on the wrong side of Texas parents, teachers, and voters when it comes to vouchers and other public education issues. The poll found that 53% of Texas likely voters are against taxpayer-funded...
Read MoreTEA restarts faulty school ratings while poll shows vast majority of Texans want process to opt-out of STAAR
The already-flawed A-F school accountability rating system—based heavily on STAAR scores—will re-launch this year after the Texas Education Agency halted it at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. However, only schools meeting the requirements to achieve an A-C will...
Read MoreHouse and Senate Education committees to meet Tuesday
Texas residents will have an opportunity to electronically submit comments regarding the agenda items to be taken up in the House committee hearing on Tuesday. On the plate? A look at Reading Academies, the additional instruction required for students who don’t pass STAAR (HB 4545), and a review of ‘performance...
Read MoreTEA adds 24 additional teachers to Teacher Vacancy Task Force, including three Texas AFT members
After establishing a Teacher Vacancy Task Force to address the growing crisis of public educators leaving the teaching profession, the Texas Education Agency has opted to add 24 teachers to sit on the task force. Prior to this decision, TEA received widespread criticism for its initial iteration of the group,...
Read MoreTexas Parent PAC poll shows Gov. Greg Abbott on the wrong side of Texas parents, voters, and teachers
Austin, TX – Today, Texas Parent PAC released a public education poll by Change Research of Likely Texas Voters showing how Governor Greg Abbott is on the wrong side of Texas parents, teachers, and voters. The Texas Parent PAC poll...
Read More‘Lunch and Learn’ gives Capitol staffers and officials a review of the education retention crisis outlined in ‘The Lost Decade’ report
Legislative staffers review the Lost Decade report at the Capitol Thursday. Yesterday afternoon at the Texas Capitol, Texas AFT staff briefed a full house of legislative staffers and several elected officials on the findings published by Texas AFT and a...
Read MoreNine new charter schools seek approval from TEA and the SBOE, creating another wave of expansion harmful to public schools
This week, the Texas Education Agency, as well as some SBOE board members, interviewed nine Generation 27 charter-school applicants—yet another attempt to expand charter chains and campuses that will take money from neighborhood schools. Texas AFT worked with allies to...
Read MoreSBEC approves new educator certification test in the face of widespread opposition to the change
On April 29, the State Board of Educator Certification (SBEC) approved a controversial new test—the edPTA by Pearson—to replace the PPR for state certification. Texas AFT joined several educator organizations, educator preparation programs, and school district personnel in opposing the approval of this exam. We signed on to a letter...
Read MoreWith private-school voucher push, governor heads in the wrong direction for retaining teachers
While our Lost Decade report outlined how increases in per-pupil funding are the key to teacher recruitment and retention with higher wages, Gov. Greg Abbott’s response to the crisis is to wage a campaign to take money from public schools and give it to private schools in the form of...
Read MoreTRS officials tell legislators: The fund is healthy and can support a cost-of-living increase for retirees
Texas AFT Retiree Plus member Lydia Carrillo-Valdez testifies at the Capitol for a cost-of-living increase for TRS pensions. But you’ll still need to fight for something that makes a difference for your retirement This past week, the Teacher’s Retirement System...
Read MoreAbbott’s foolish pursuit of inflicting harm on immigrant children would lead to the targeting of kids and danger to our state’s economy
On Wednesday, Gov. Greg Abbott told a radio talk-show host that he’s considering challenging a Supreme Court decision—Plyler v. Doe—from four decades ago that requires states to offer public education enrollment to any child living in their state, regardless of...
Read MoreAbbott’s foolish pursuit of inflicting harm on immigrant children would lead to the targeting of kids and danger to our state’s economy
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 5, 2022 CONTACT: Rob D'Amico, 512-627-1343, rdamico@texasaft.org Texas AFT President Zeph Capo commented today on the governor’s threat to challenge a Supreme Court decision requiring states to allow the education of immigrant children: The governor is...
Read More