Our work in the 88th Legislature is to do what we do best — educate — on the issues that matter most to our public school employees and students. Polls show that Texans overwhelmingly support raising teacher pay, and public school parents nationwide are incredibly concerned about underfunded and unsafe...
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Texas AFT offices will be closed for winter break from Monday, Dec. 19, through Monday, Jan. 2. The next Hotline will hit your inbox Friday, Jan. 6. May your holidays be happy, warm, and restful. ...
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In the weeks leading up to the legislative session, which starts Jan. 10, Texas AFT staff have been attending a host of education events and panels, which have yielded some interesting insights from legislators in attendance. At an event in November in Lubbock, Rep. Ken King, who serves on the...
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State Sen. César Blanco writes a strong defense of public education in The Big Bend Sentinel, rightly pointing out that our rural schools cannot afford to lose any further funding to school voucher schemes. Texas May Revoke Largest Teacher Prep Program’s Accreditation After...
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Ahead of the upcoming legislative session, which begins Jan. 10, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has released his 21 legislative priorities, including a number of items related to K-12 and higher education. While the priorities Patrick listed at his Wednesday press conference are mostly “concepts” at this stage, Texas AFT sees...
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Nov. 7, 2022 CONTACT: press@texasaft.org Texas AFT responds to Lt. Gov. Patrick comments disparaging urban school districts Lieutenant governor blames school districts for problems his charter schemes created AUSTIN, Texas – In his comments last week pushing private school vouchers, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called urban school districts “dropout factories,” specifically...
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Oct. 20, 2022 CONTACT: press@texasaft.org ICYMI: Texas Monthly Exposes a Plot to Funnel Texas Taxpayer Dollars to Private Schools In the story about Wimberley ISD, reporter Forrest Wilder uncovers the shady dealings of charter school operators, right-wing consultants, and school voucher proponents. AUSTIN, Texas — On Tuesday,...
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Oct. 5, 2022 CONTACT: press@texasaft.org ICYMI: Dallas Morning News Op-Ed Explores School Voucher Failures Nationwide Vouchers have produced some of the “largest negative impacts on student learning.” So why do Texas politicians want them? DALLAS — On Wednesday, the Dallas Morning News published a well-timed op-ed from Dr....
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Texas Parent PAC, a bipartisan political action committee of parents who support high-quality public education, is urging Texans to vote against incumbent Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. This is the first time the organization has ever taken a stance on the governor’s race. “Abbott is failing our kids and neighborhood public...
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This past Monday, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) released 2021-2022 school year accountability ratings for each of Texas’ 1,195 districts and 8,451 campuses. This is the first time since 2019 that TEA has published accountability ratings because of the COVID-19 disaster declaration during the previous two school years. While TEA...
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Aug. 11, 2022 CONTACT: press@texasaft.org Texas AFT President Zeph Capo commented today after Gov. Greg Abbott held a press conference to discuss “school choice” at The King’s Academy, a private “Christ-centered” school in Dallas: Source: Texas Parent PAC poll of likely Texas voters, May 2022 All I can...
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Two West Texas oil tycoons have been donating millions of dollars to influence Texas politics, with the intention of completely replacing all public schools across the state with Christian private schools, according to a new report from CNN. Tim Dunn, Farris Wilks, and their wives have collectively donated over $29...
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