Back to school, back to what we do best

Across Texas, classroom lights are coming back on, hallways are filling up, and teachers are meeting the students who will become a huge part of their lives over the next nine months. Some districts started classes this week, while many more will welcome students back in the days ahead, and even after years of doing this work, there is still something special about the beginning of a new school year. 

There are new names to learn, classrooms to decorate, lesson plans to finish, and routines to figure out. There are students walking into a new school for the first time and teachers and staff doing the same. For educators, there’s excitement in getting another chance to build a classroom community from scratch and to see where students will be by the time May rolls around. 

But, we'd be kidding ourselves if we pretended that excitement isn't mixed with some anxiety this year. 

Texas educators are returning to classrooms after another year of enormous pressure on public education, from difficult district budget decisions to staffing shortages to state takeovers, political fights over curriculum, and ever-growing demands on teachers' time. We previously reported extensively on the connection between teacher turnover and instability in our schools, and some of the numbers heading into this year are difficult to ignore. 

For example, in Houston ISD, more than 4,000 teachers have left the district, representing roughly one in three teachers. Educators who spoke with FOX 26 pointed at not just student behavior, but to heavy workloads, excessive paperwork, micromanagement, lost planning time, and the feeling that teachers aren't being included in decisions that directly affect their classrooms. 

Those concerns aren't unique to Houston. Across the state, educators are coming back knowing that the job asks a lot of them, sometimes more than it should. You're teaching, planning, grading and communicating with families while also supporting students' mental health, navigating new state policies and trying to keep a healthy work-life balance through it all. Being excited to see your students again doesn't make those pressures disappear, but at the same time, acknowledging them doesn't make anyone less excited to teach. 

That's also why we want every Texas AFT member to remember something as the year begins: you don't have to figure all of this out alone. 

Texas AFT has a collection of member resources available to help throughout the school year, including professional development, workplace protections and other benefits. If a workplace problem does come up, our Know Your Rights library covers everything from planning and preparation time and duty-free lunch to class-size requirements, evaluations, grievances, special education, and employee leave. And if you're unsure about a specific workplace situation, reach out to your local union or Texas AFT representative for assistance. 

Sometimes, though, what you need is much simpler: a lesson plan for Monday morning. AFT's program Share My Lesson offers hundreds of thousands of free lesson plans and classroom resources that can be searched by grade, subject and topic, along with professional development and special collections on current events and other themes. Through AFT's longstanding partnership with First Book, educators serving students in need can also access free and low-cost books and educational materials. Texas AFT has helped distribute nearly 1 million free books to Title I schools across our state, thanks to the national Reading Opens the World partnership that has put millions more into the hands of students and educators. 

And if the stress of this work becomes something heavier, remember that trauma counseling and support resources are available to all members. Asking for help isn't separate from doing this job well. Sometimes it's what makes continuing to do it possible. 

There will be plenty to fight about this school year, and we know that. There will be attacks on public education from the Texas Legislature and Washington, policies we disagree with, budget fights that shouldn't be necessary, and days when the workload feels impossible. 

But none of those people get the first word on what this school year will be. School employees do. 

Every morning, Texas public school employees will open their doors, welcome students inside, and do the work that makes public education possible.  We'll support one another when things get difficult, organize when we need to correct an injustice, and celebrate the victories along the way. 

So while there's plenty to be anxious about, there's even more to look forward to. Here's to a great school year. Let's show them what happens when public school educators show up!