Friday, March 10, 2023 This week is National School Social Worker Week, and we should all take a moment to lift up these employees who help our kids face some of their toughest challenges. We know students bring a lot with them to school every day, that’s why having dedicated...
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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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Friday, Feb. 17, 2023 The Campaign to Defund Public Schools Picks Up Steam This has been a whirlwind week in the world of Texas education. We’ll cover much of it in this newsletter (TEA scandal! State of the State! Dan Patrick’s priorities!), but the main theme: vouchers and their impact...
Read MoreFriday, Jan. 27, 2023 As Texas public schools beg for funding, Texas charter schools … buy luxury horse ranches. This year, National School Choice Week fell just a week after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick proclaimed before the Legislature that he and Gov. Greg Abbott are “all in” on “school choice.” ...
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This year, National School Choice Week fell just a week after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick proclaimed before the Legislature that he and Gov. Greg Abbott are “all in” on “school choice.” What’s normally a week in which voucher proponents and charter school operators share the alleged benefits of school privatization...
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Source: Texas Parent PAC poll, May 2022 This past Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Gov. Greg Abbott delivered their inaugural addresses to the 88th Legislature in Austin. Both — for all their previous "linguistic gymnastics" — made one thing clear: a private school voucher push is coming. Now, we...
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The second week of the 88th Texas legislative session kicked off with the inaugurations of Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Both gave speeches that had serious implications for Texas public education. Apart from both Abbott and Patrick signaling support for private school vouchers, which would take money...
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Claim: In a tweet Thursday, Gov. Greg Abbott refuted (rightful) claims from Houston Federation of Teachers President Jackie Anderson that state leaders’ plans to push vouchers — under “school choice” verbiage — would further defund public schools, already “starving” for money. In his tweet, Abbott said per-student funding for Texas...
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Friday, Jan. 20, 2023 This week’s Hotline starts with a reminder: Words matter. What happens in the Legislature has consequences. Over the past month, a variety of rumors about Texas education have sprung up on social media and taken root. In December, tweets began circulating that claimed Dallas ISD teachers...
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Tenure & Academic Freedom As our union affiliate the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) notes, tenure is important to safeguard academic freedom, which is necessary for all who teach and conduct research in higher education. When faculty members know they could possibly lose their positions because of their speech,...
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Our Union's Values In 2021, delegates to Texas AFT's statewide convention voted on a resolution supporting LGBTQIA+ students and educators. Texas AFT is resolved to provide support and resources to local unions to engage with school district officials on the urgent need to recruit, retain, and respect LGBTQIA+ educators. Texas...
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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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