LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY

---

Texas AAUP-AFT and Texas AFT collaborate with Black Brown Dialogues on Policy, Every Texan, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Texas Faculty Association, Texas Association of College Teachers, Texas Council of Faculty Senates, Texas NAACP, Texas State Employees Union, Texas Students for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), and Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT).

Our collaborative effort worked closely with the Legislative Black Caucus, Mexican American Legislative Caucus, and other Legislators to effect changes in bills through visiting Legislative offices, testifying at committee hearings, and proposing amendments to bills during floor debates.

Advocacy Outcomes in 2023: In the House, we were able to garner the bipartisan support to change the legal definition of tenure in SB 18 from one-year guaranteed contracts to continuous employment. We also influenced changes in SB 17 including several exceptions for grants.   We helped defeat the censorship bill (SB 16).  

Picture taken on April 6, 2023, by the Texas Tribune during a House vote on a Budget Rider to prohibit DEI practices in public higher ed.  Link to article.

Texas AAUP and Texas AFT trained 30 faculty to visit Legislative offices in teams of 2-4.  We built relationships with more than 50 Legislative Offices.  There are 181 Legislators.  Picture from left to right is Brian Evans (Texas AAUP), David Albert (Texas AFT & Texas AAUP), and Rep. Vicki Goodwin.

Texas AAUP-AFT members and staff are at the Capitol preparing to testify against SB 37 at the Senate Committee on Education K-16 on March 20, 2025.  In total, 25 gave public testimony, all against.  Texas AAUP-AFT trained 100 members to testify against SB 37 at the House Committee on Higher Education hearing on May 6, 2025.  In total, more than 300 testified against SB 37.

SB 37 is undue Big Government intrusion into our community colleges, universities, and health institutions.  Take action against SB 37.

Please see the Texas AAUP-AFT Higher Ed Bill Tracker to see what bills Texas AAUP-AFT is concerned about and also encouraged to see.  

In the House Committee on Higher Education hearings in the previous Legislative session, we had more than 70 testify in person against SB 18 concerning tenure and more than 130 testify in person against SB 17 concerning diversity, equity and inclusion employment practices.  Hundreds more submitted online testimony.

Over 500 faculty, K-12 educators, and students rallied at the Capitol during Spring Break on March 10, 2025, to advocate for the freedom to learn and the freedom to teach.  The rally promoted the Texas AFT Educator's Bill of Rights.

Prior to the rally, attendees went in small groups to visit their representatives in the House and the Senate.. 

  Rep. Ron Reynolds and Rep. Jolanda Jones are standing on the left in the picture.  The presenter at the podium is Dr. DiAnna Hynds,  

who is a Professor of Neuroscience and the Texas AAUP-AFT Vice President for North Texas.

As a follow-up to the March 10 rally, Texas AFT held a similar rally on March 17.

Texas AAUP-AFT participated in the Texas AFT event that brought more than 500 Texas AFT faculty, K-12 educators, and students across the state to rally and meet Texas Legislators on March 10, 2025, on public K-12 and higher ed issues.  These issues included campus safety, class sizes, work weeks, standardized testing, retirement benefits, and school vouchers.  All these issues relate to the Texas AFT Educator's Bill of Rights educators.  Texas AFT has 66,000 members, which 20% of all K-12 educators in Texas.  Texas AFT also has more than 2,000 members in public higher ed.

In Texas, higher education at our community colleges, technical colleges, universities, and health institutions is interconnected with our K-12 schools. Most of our higher ed students come from our K-12 schools and most of our K-12 educators come from our higher ed institutions.  

Pictured above from left to right are Rep. Gene Wu, Rep. Donna Howard, Rep. Vinton Jones, Rep. James Talarico, and Patty Quinzi (Texas AFT Legislative Director and General Counsel).  Sen. Roland Gutierrez participated in a different panel.

Texas AAUP participated in the Texas AFT press conference on the first day of the Legislative session on public K-12 and higher education.

Texas AAUP collaborated with eleven other higher ed advocacy organizations during session including Black Brown Dialogues on Policy. 

Pictured above is the Feb. 27, 2025, press conference hosted by the Black Brown Dialogues on Policy and its co-founders Dr. Angela Valenzuela (standing immedately to the left of the podium) and Mr. Gary Bledsoe, Texas NAACP President (farthest to the left).  Other participating groups included the Democratic Caucus, the Legislative Black Caucus, the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, and the Texas NAACP.

Speaking is Sen. Royce West.  During the event, Legislators on stage included Rep. Lulu Flores, Rep. Vicki Goodwin, Rep. Gina Hinojosa, Rep. Jolanda Jones (not shown), Rep. Ron Reynolds, Sen. Royce West, and Rep. Gene Wu (Chair, House Democratic Caucus, not shown).