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Good morning,

Here is the Texas Minute for Monday, September 5, 2022.

– Brandon Waltens

As parents continue to fight to bring transparency, common sense, and parental rights back to public education, teachers unions continue to oppose them.

But wait, does Texas have teachers unions? Yes. To avoid negative connotations among voters and taxpayers in the “right to work” Lone Star State, the entities refrain from calling themselves unions to various degrees. The Texas State Teachers Association often claims not be a union but is affiliated with the National Education Association, which is a labor union. Meanwhile, the Texas American Federation of Teachers is affiliated with the AFL-CIO and is explicitly a labor union. Lastly, the Texas Classroom Teachers Association is a “professional development” organization that does not have any union affiliations Just last week, the Texas State Teachers Association (affiliated with the National Education Association) called parents extremists for daring to oppose radical leftist changes to the state’s social studies curriculum.

The nasty attack came following the State Board of Education hearing about the proposed changes, which would have put new emphasis on worldwide LGBTQ “pride” issues while deemphasizing Texas history, among other radical shifts. Parents pushed back, leading the SBOE to postpone consideration of the changes to 2025.

But while parents celebrated, the TSTA, which boasts over 68,000 members, villainized [[link removed]] them, calling the victory an "attack" by "extremists."

The statement by TSTA is similar to a statement made by the National School Board Association last year. In a letter to President Joe Biden and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting federal intervention in local school board meetings and referring to concerned parents as “domestic terrorists." Additionally, Teachers unions have been some of the staunchest opponents of school choice in Texas. At the same time, however, some Republicans—including Speaker Dade Phelan—have touted their endorsements.

While teacher union membership is voluntary in Texas, state lawmakers have repeatedly rejected efforts to end automatic union dues, by which the state deducts union dues out of teacher paychecks and sends the money directly to the union.

Ending government collection of labor union dues, meanwhile, is part of the Republican Party of Texas' platform [[link removed]].

🔒 Donate to Texas Scorecard 🔒 [[link removed]] Today in History

On September 5, 1836, Sam Houston was elected as the first president of the Republic of Texas.

Quote-Unquote

"We view ourselves on the eve of battle. We are nerved for the contest, and must conquer or perish... We must now act or abandon all hope!"

– Sam Houston​

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Your Federal & State Lawmakers

The districts displayed here should reflect those recently redrawn by the Legislature. Though the new lines do not take representational effect until 2023, they will appear on the 2022 ballot. Please note that your incumbent legislator and/or district numbers may have changed.

U.S. Senator [[link removed]]

John Cornyn (R)

(202) 224-2934

U.S. Senator [[link removed]]

Ted Cruz (R)

(202) 224-5922

Governor of Texas [[link removed]]

Greg Abbott (R)

(512) 463-2000

Lt. Governor [[link removed]]

Dan Patrick (R)

(512) 463-0001

State Board of Education [[link removed]], District

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U.S. House [[link removed]], District

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Texas Senate [[link removed]], District

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Speaker of the Texas House

Dade Phelan (R)

(512) 463-1000

We don’t include politicians’ email addresses, because email is generally an inefficient way to communicate with elected officials due to volume and spam. We recommend sending a postcard or letter to their mailing address, or calling their office.

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Produced by Michael Quinn Sullivan and Brandon Waltens, the Texas Minute is a quick look at the news and info of the day we find interesting, and hope you do as well. It is delivered weekday mornings (though we'll take the occasional break for holidays and whatnot).

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