June 9, 2017

ATPE believes educators deserve a raise, but the state should fund it

Texas Governor Greg Abbott released his plans for a special legislative session that would begin July 18. The Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE) is concerned that several education-related issues on the governor’s agenda could hurt Texas public schools, despite the governor’s support for raising teacher pay.

“Texas educators have dedicated their lives to teaching our state’s future generations, and a pay raise is certainly needed in light of rising healthcare costs,” ATPE Executive Director Gary Godsey said. “Our concerns are with the governor proposing a raise without providing funding. He’s suggesting districts find the money within their existing budgets, which could mean cuts to school programming, increases in class sizes, cuts to teachers’ benefits or even staff layoffs. This isn’t fair to the students, the teachers or the school district.”

ATPE is urging legislators to support public schools by providing adequate funding, opposing a voucher program that would funnel tax dollars to unregulated private schools and opposing an anti-educator bill that would prevent teachers from voluntarily paying for their professional organization membership dues through payroll deduction.

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The Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE) has been a strong voice for Texas educators since 1980. It is the leading educators’ association in Texas with more than 100,000 members statewide. With its strong collaborative philosophy, ATPE speaks for classroom teachers, administrators, future, retired and para-educators and works to create better opportunities for 5 million public schoolchildren. ATPE is the ally and the voice of Texas public education.