Jan. 10, 2025: Time to buckle up

It seems like just yesterday we were living through the fourth special session of the 88th Legislature. And now, the 89th Legislature gavels in next week. Are you ready? This week's Hotline is filled with the information you need to know going into another difficult session for public schools, colleges, and universities.

• WEP? Repealed. GPO? Repealed. Yes, really!
• Our preview of the first week of the 89th Legislature
• Spotlight on bills to improve your working conditions
• Upcoming Texas AFT legislative events for your calendar

The opening day of the 89th regular legislative session is Tuesday, Jan. 14, and the stakes are extremely high for public education, educators, and school employees.

While most bills will not begin to move until March, opening week is an important time: the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives will be elected by the members of the body on the first day of session.

Shortly after, the members of the House will offer amendments to and vote on the House Rules that will govern the body's work in the 89th Texas Legislature. Additionally, Comptroller of Public Accounts Glen Hagar is expected to release his Biennial Revenue Estimate, quantifying the budget surplus legislators will have available to spend, and Gov. Greg Abbott will announce his list of emergency items determiningwhich legislation can be moved in the first 60 daysof the legislative session.

We will discuss the latter two of these updates after exploring the latest developments in the race to serve as the next Speaker of the Texas House.

Our Texas Needs Teachers report found that working conditions were even more important than compensation in retainingeducators by an almost 2-to-1 ratio. Even if all our school finance dreams came true and we could pay all educators and support staff the salaries and wages they so richly deserve, compensation is not the entire picture, and the state must do more to address crushing workloads that cause burnout and exacerbateteacher attrition and employee turnover.

Though the bill filings may have slowed over the holiday season, they certainly did not stop. With just days until the 89th Legislature gavels in, let's take a peek at some additional bills that support our Texas AFT's Educator's Bill of Rights, specifically working conditions and collective bargaining.

A Texas teenager helped his border community win a $13 million grant to improve the environment. Thanks to the determination of an area teenager and funding from the Infrastructure Reduction Act, Presidio will get dedicated green spaces along bike lanes and pedestrian streets, plant thousands of native trees and establisha high school-run air-quality monitoring program. (The Texas Tribune, Jan. 8)

STEM Training Offers Hope for Communities Across the Country | Opinion. The education policy of the incoming federal administration is still being formulated. While there will be many issues that we as unionized educators disagree with, there is at least one initiative that should be drawing support from across the political spectrum-an expansion of career and technical training for our high school and community college students. (Newsweek, Dec. 26)

'I just don't really recognize the Republican Party': Ousted state Rep. Steve Allison goes down swinging. Of the 11 Texas Republicans who lost their seats this year in Gov. Greg Abbott's quest to create a school voucher program, none went down swinging quite like state House Rep. Steve Allison. Last session Allison, a former Alamo Heights ISD board president, was one of 21 Republicans in the Texas House who joined Democrats in stripping school vouchers out of a broader education funding bill. (San Antonio Report, Jan. 6)