FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 11, 2020
CONTACT:
Rob D’Amico, 512-627-1343, rdamico@texasaft.org
Teacher unions will highlight the needs of our schools in the pandemic with car caravans and other events
What: We’ve seen the power of our teachers’ collective voice as Texas finally prioritized school employees for vaccinations. Now we need to turn our voice to fully funding our schools in the pandemic.
Normally, thousands of public school employees from across the state would gather annually at the Texas Capitol on the first day of their Spring Break to advocate for our schools, ourselves, and our students. Given the pandemic, that’s not an option this year. Across the state on March 15, thousands of educators and school employees instead will take part in a Day of Action, drawing attention to school funding and the Texas Legislature. Many unions will hold car caravan rallies to keep their members safe.
We will also be holding a phone bank calling educators across the state to ensure they know they’re eligible to get COVID-19 vaccines right now, thanks to President Biden’s directive.
When: March 15, 2021. Most local events at 10 a.m. Vaccine phone bank (virtual) runs from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Where: See https://www.texasaft.org/campaigns/day-of-action-2021/ for event locations and times
Who: Participating unions include, by area:
Houston: Houston Federations of Teachers, Houston Educational Support Personnel, Aldine AFT, Alief AFT, Cy-Fair AFT, Spring AFT, Fort Bend AFT, Brazosport AFT, Northeast Houston AFT (Channelview, Galena Park, Sheldon ISDs)
Austin: Education Austin, Bastrop AFT, Manor AFT, Hutto AFT
Dallas: Alliance AFT, Southwest Dallas AFT (Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville, and Lancaster ISDs) Texas AFT United (Garland, Richardson, Allen, Frisco, and Plano ISDs)
San Antonio: San Antonio Alliance, Northside AFT, Judson AFT
El Paso: Socorro AFT
Rio Grande Valley: Corpus Christi AFT, McAllen AFT, Edinburg AFT, Brownsville Educators Stand Together
East Texas: Nacogdoches AFT
Statewide: Vaccine Phone Bank, Higher Education Virtual Day of Action (Lone Star AFT, ACC AFT)
Texas American Federation of Teachers represents some 65,000 teachers, paraprofessionals, support personnel, and higher-education employees across the state. Texas AFT is affiliated with the 1.7-million-member American Federation of Teachers and AFL-CIO.
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