Topic: Rulings

Lawsuit settlement ends use of value-added evaluations for Houston teachers

Publish Date: October 11, 2017

In another huge victory for the right of teachers to be fairly evaluated, Houston ISD agreed, in a settlement of a federal lawsuit brought by seven Houston teachers and our local union-- the Houston Federation of Teachers--not to use value-added scores to terminate a teacher as long as the teacher is unable to independently test or challenge the score. The most significant blow in this lawsuit was...

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Multi-Factor University of Texas Admission Policy Upheld; Court Deadlocks in Immigration Case

Publish Date: June 23, 2016

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, today welcomed the U.S. Supreme Court’s four-to-three decision upholding the admissions policy of the University of Texas against a constitutional challenge. Weingarten said: “The AFT, as the nation’s largest union of faculty and a longtime champion of racial equity, joins with our allies in celebrating the Supreme Court’s decision to affirm...

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Putting Some Teeth into the Texas Paperwork Reduction Act

Publish Date: August 18, 2015

The Education Code has contained a so-called Paperwork Reduction Act pretty much in its current form since 2003, but the law has not always lived up to its stated intent to “limit redundant requests for information and the number and length of written reports that a classroom teacher is required to prepare.” Hence we are pleased to report that a...

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Texas AFT Wins Payments for North Forest Educators

Publish Date: January 28, 2015

Texas AFT recently concluded a lawsuit filed on behalf of former members in North Forest ISD who lost their teaching positions after the commissioner of education closed the school district. The final judgment signed by a Harris County district court judge made more than $192,000 available for distribution to AFT members who were affected by the district’s closure. Louis Malfaro,...

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Houston ISD Teachers, Wrongly Accused and Now Vindicated, Speak Out for Due Process

Publish Date: September 4, 2014

Today’s Hotline shares with you a hard-hitting article, published this week in the Houston Chronicle, by two Houston ISD teachers (and Houston Federation of Teachers members) whose recent experience on the job makes clear why due process when faced with adverse employment action is so important. Texas AFT joined HFT and the national AFT in the successful legal defense of...

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Stubborn Facts Support School-Finance Decision

Publish Date: September 2, 2014

State District Judge John Dietz concisely summarized the recent history of Texas school finance en route to his August 28 ruling that the state has failed in its constitutional duty to fund public schools adequately and equitably. Apologists for the status quo on school funding will do what they can to contest the judge’s conclusions, but they will have a...

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Court Issues Ruling: A Broken School-Finance System Needs Fixing Now—the Kids Can’t Wait

Publish Date: August 28, 2014

State District Judge John Dietz of Austin today issued a long-awaited final decision in the school-finance case brought against the state by hundreds of school districts. Judge Dietz found overwhelming evidence that the current funding scheme is constitutionally inequitable, inadequate, and in violation of the ban on a statewide property tax. He noted that the state has raised its standards...

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Another Win on Teacher Pay in McAllen

Publish Date: June 21, 2014

Congratulations also to the McAllen AFT for winning a back-pay award for teachers who were improperly denied a step raise by their district. The McAllen ISD action violated a 2009 state law that provided a state-funded teacher pay raise and clearly also required districts to honor already-established local policy commitments to provide step increases. McAllen AFT prevailed after a five-year...

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