It came as no surprise that the voucher conversation dominated the last legislative session, and as such much of our communications to members over that time frame was dedicated to fighting that battle. In addition to the long regular session, the entirety of the summer and fall felt like all vouchers all the time.

At the end of the day, we were able to hold off vouchers, and that's certainly a positive. Since then, unfortunately, the voucher issue has anything but subsided. Although passing vouchers has become Governor Abbott’s primary, if not only, education policy goal, it is certainly not the only concern out there for public educators.

There is no denying the teaching profession has become embroiled within culture wars in a way that it has never been before. However, many of these false flag issues that have created so much controversy are being ginned up for no other reason than to drive a wedge in support for public education and breaking the blockade against vouchers.

While the privatizers and voucher pushers continue to do their best to manufacture hate, outside the culture war trenches, there are plenty of non-voucher or voucher linked issues that public educators legitimately need to be focusing on. These issues have nothing to do with privatization, and they're real issues that need to be addressed within the public school system.

So which issues are we focused on right now and what are we doing to engage the broader community for support? And outside of voting, what tools can educators use to communicate with their elected representatives, expand the public education conversation, and make their voice heard on these issues?

In this episode of The ATPE Podcast, ATPE Governmental Relations Director Monty Exter explains how together we can impact Texas education policy beyond just the threat of vouchers.