Texas AFT urges serious action after Governor Abbott’s announcement of a Texas Classroom Commission

5 days ago
2 min read

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 8, 2026

CONTACT:

Marco Guajardo, mguajardo@texasaft.org

Texas AFT urges serious action after Governor Abbott’s announcement of a Texas Classroom Commission

Austin, Texas - Today, Greg Abbott announced the launch of the Texas Classroom Commission, a new teacher-led initiative that will provide education policy recommendations for the 2027 Texas legislative session.

“We have had enough reports, enough commissions,” said Texas AFT President Zeph Capo. “Everyone from state elected officials to school board members knows what needs to be done. I agree we need the voices of teachers and educators involved in policymaking, but a report that the legislature is just as likely to ignore is not what our students and classrooms need.”

Texas AFT agrees that educators are the subject-matter experts on both their profession and the policy changes that their students need from lawmakers. Recent history has shown, however, that even when educators are included (at our insistence), their recommendations have not been acted upon.

Only 3 years ago, when the Texas teacher attrition rate was 13.45%, the Texas Teacher Vacancy Task Force released an over-50-page report with recommendations including increases to compensation and improvements to training, support resources, and working conditions. No significant actions were taken by the legislature the following year, and, as a result, we have seen no significant change in the attrition rate. The educator shortage still persists in Texas.

In 2022, Texas AFT, in conjunction with Battelle for Kids, released the Texas Needs Teachers! report, which diagnosed the problems of public education and offered practical and actionable solutions, relying on the contributions of over 100 teachers. The solutions needed in 2022 are the same ones we need today: better working conditions, fully funded schools, and improved benefits and compensation for our public school employees.

Texas AFT is optimistic about what this commission could accomplish, contingent on the commission platforming a diverse array of voices from across our great state, and provided that the recommendations produced are serious and taken seriously.