January 18, 2018
Inside
- Political Kickoff readies members to make change by electing friends of public education.
- Resources for Black History Month
- Scholarships available for graduating seniors in union families
- The conversations continue
- From AFT National
- Benefit spotlight: Union Plus Car Rentals
- Not getting our daily Legislative Hotline? Here’s what you’ve missed
- About this newsletter
Political Kickoff readies members to make change by electing friends of public education.
Get ready—a crucial election season for public education is upon us, with early voting set to start February 20 in Republican and Democratic primaries for statewide, state legislative, and congressional offices. The first round of the primaries culminates on March 6.
Ed Espinoza, Progress Texas executive director, runs through an overview of voting statistics for Texas AFT leaders and activists.
Texas AFT held its annual political kickoff on January 6 with more than 150 activists planning for how they will engage members to get involved and vote! We will be outlining the key issues for members in the coming weeks to help you make informed decisions on helping elect candidates who will support our schools. For starters, here are some important dates:
Important Dates
Feb. 5:
Last day to register to vote
Feb. 20:
Early voting begins
March 2:
Early voting ends
March 6:
Election Day
- Read more from the January 17 Legislative Hotline: “A crucial election year ahead and Gov. Abbott’s dereliction of duty.”
- Volunteer to be an Activist in Action for the upcoming elections
Resources for Black History Month
Start your Black History Month (February) lesson planning with Share My Lesson’s expanded collection. You’ll find lessons, worksheets and activities to teach your preK-12 students about key events and individuals whose accomplishments continue to influence us today.
You’ll also get ideas and resources for integrating African American history and culture into all aspects of the yearlong curriculum including features for literature, history, biographies of notable Black Americans, film, music, art, migration/immigration, the struggle for civil rights both past and present, racism and current events.
Scholarships available for graduating seniors in union families
The deadline for applying for Texas AFL-CIO scholarships is fast approaching (January 31). This year Texas AFL-CIO will award $1,500 scholarships to 28 graduating seniors. To be eligible for the program, one of a student’s parents or legal guardians must be a member of a labor union that is affiliated both with its Central Labor Council and the Texas AFL-CIO (And that includes all Texas Texas AFT members.) The CLC requirement is waived if the student lives in a part of Texas that does not have CLC (or ALF) jurisdiction.
The conversations continue…
Texas AFT has held six “Community Conversations” across the state to meet with members, educators and community leaders to hear their input and help define a vision for public education. Events were held in Dallas, Southwest Dallas, Fort Bend/Alief, Amarillo and San Antonio, with the latest conversation meeting last week in La Joya/McAllen.
From AFT national…
- As we ring in 2018, AFT has been reflecting on all the ways our locals, our state
federations and our members were out in force in 2017—fighting budget cuts, privatization, austerity, and attacks on workers, while fighting for healthcare and education. We also pulled together to support members affected by the natural disasters that ravaged communities across the country. We care, we fight and we show up—and 2017 showed that big-time. Check out the year-end video to see some of 2017’s highlights and to get energized for 2018. - Rewarding the rich…GOP tax plan lavishes benefits on corporations and the very wealthy at the expense of Americans just trying to get by. Read more…
Benefit spotlight: Union Plus Car Rentals
Texas AFT partners with Union Plus, which provides a large variety of services and discounts on shopping, travel, insurance and more. Visit www.unionplus.org to find out how you can benefit and save!
The benefit spotlight this month is big savings on car rentals. Save up to 25% off when you rent a car with your Union Plus discount.
Not getting our daily Legislative Hotline? Here’s what you’ve missed
Texas AFT publishes a daily Legislative Hotline to keep you informed about education policy, politics, union news and events. Not on the list? Here are a couple items you missed:
- Feds find Texas illegally capped eligibility for special-education services
- Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) gets short-term funding extension
- Subscribe to the daily Legislative Hotline email
About this newsletter
Round-Up is the newest email newsletter from Texas AFT and is published every two weeks. You are on this list because you either subscribed, or you were added when you opted in participating in a Texas AFT action campaign. You may unsubscribe at any time with the link below, but we’d love to have you stay to hear more about our union, public education, and your profession.
Texas American Federation of Teachers represents more than 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.
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