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This Week in the Legislature: The Texas House held a voucher hearing. A celebration of public schools broke out.
Hundreds of witnesses testified deep into the night this week in yet another hearing on school vouchers. The House Public Education committee heard House Bill 3, a school voucher scam that garnered nearly unanimous opposition from hundreds of witnesses and in 12,000 public comments into the House portal.
Read MoreTEA wants to move the A-F goalposts for districts. In Houston ISD, we see the results.
Yesterday, the Texas Education Agency announced its takeover of HISD, ousting a democratically elected board and installing a selected board of managers, including charter CEO Mike Miles (more on that below). Despite great academic progress made in the last year, and an overall acceptable rating in 2023, TEA chose to...
Read MoreTexas AFT’s Phyllis Ruffin Elected As Top 3 Finalist for TRS Board of Trustees
Phyllis Ruffin speaks at an April press conference at the Capitol with fellow Texas AFT Retiree Plus members, as well as Rep. John Bryant and Rep. Mihaela Plesa, about the need for a real COLA for retired educators. This week, Texas AFT retiree Phyllis Ruffin was selected as a finalist...
Read MoreMay 26, 2023: A Hostage Situation
Friday, May 26, 2023 Is this a joke? There are three days left in the regular session of the 88th Texas Legislature. And as of this writing, there are $0 dedicated in the proposed final state budget for public school employee raises. After more than a month of negotiations in...
Read MoreThis (Last) Week in The Legislature: More Questions Than Answers as Session Comes to a Close
The last full week of the Texas legislative session ended with final decisions being made on several important pieces of legislation, but going into the session’s final weekend, major bills relating to school finance, private school vouchers, pensions for retired educators, the future of higher education, and more are still...
Read MoreHouse Committee Unanimously Recommends Paxton Impeachment
This Thursday, the Texas House General Investigating Committee recommended that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton be impeached due to a plethora of abuses he is alleged to have committed while in office. The committee filed a total of 20 articles of impeachment against Paxton, ranging from obstruction of justice to...
Read MoreStatement on State Budget HB 1
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 25, 2023 CONTACT: press@texasaft.org Texas AFT President Zeph Capo commented Thursday on House Bill 1, the state budget, which, after negotiations in conference committee, contains no increase to the basic allotment for students and no raises for public school employees: “Is this a joke? Congratulations to...
Read MoreTexas legislators have a choice: increase public school funding or bankroll private school vouchers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 24, 2023 CONTACT: press@texasaft.org Texas legislators have a choice: increase public school funding or bankroll private school vouchers Amendments to two key bills in the last days of session set up key decision for lawmakers AUSTIN, Texas – In the early hours of the morning, the...
Read MoreStatement on $16 billion cost for HB 100, vouchers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 23, 2023 CONTACT: press@texasaft.org Texas AFT and Every Texan commented Wednesday on the $16 billion fiscal note for CSHB100 and its private school voucher over the next five years. Both organizations published research jointly this spring that indicated the cost of across-the-board raises for Texas school...
Read MoreLandslide Rejection: Rural Texas House Districts Soundly Oppose Texas Voucher Schemes, Reveals Latest Polling
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 22, 2023 CONTACT: press@texasaft.org Landslide Rejection: Rural Texas House Districts Soundly Oppose Texas Voucher Schemes, Reveals Latest Polling Senators jeopardize teacher pay raises with new voucher language, as opposition solidifies in the House AUSTIN, Texas –...
Read MoreSchool Funding in the Texas Legislature: Vouchers, Property Taxes, & Your Paycheck
Education Round Rock President Tammy Conrad speaks Monday at an early-morning press conference on voucher bill SB 8 with Texas AFT and allies. Watch on Facebook Live. There is a little over a week left in the 88th Texas Legislature, and once again, our elected officials are on a path...
Read MoreThis Week in the Legislature: An Onslaught on Multiple Fronts
While the private school voucher threat has temporarily been abated, another bill that would allow for the rapid expansion of charter schools, which also divert public dollars to private institutions, was resurrected. HB 1707, the priority bill of the charter industry, would exempt charter schools from local zoning ordinances, effectively...
Read MoreCommissioner Morath Provides Few Answers to Houston ISD Educators, Parents
Texas AFT regularly participates in coalition work with allies related to our legislative priorities; in the past week, we have had the chance to join our coalition partners at the Capitol for successful advocacy days.
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