The 88th Legislature has become yet another education session. From school funding to teacher compensation and retention, from protecting teacher planning time to school safety, proposed laws are currently moving through the process that—if passed—will have major impacts on classrooms across Texas. As educators and experts in your field, you must finish strong and make your voices heard at the Capitol. The consequences of staying quiet and sitting on the sidelines in such an important session could be devastating to you and your students.

Public education funding got a major boost in 2019 with the passage of House Bill (HB) 3. This followed a session in 2017 in which educators came out in record numbers to advocate for their positions—and an election in 2018 in which educators showed up to the polls. As a result, legislators felt compelled to pass legislation—2019’s HB 3—that ensured teachers and other education professionals received a pay raise and the system received an injection of funding. HB 3 passed unanimously, and lawmakers showed pride in their efforts, touting their votes on social media and at campaign functions. This victory clearly showed that change can happen when educators flex their muscle and show their engagement in the process.

This session, there is much on the line. Lawmakers are debating your pay and working conditions, a state-developed curriculum, parental rights and engagement, how to keep schools safe after the massacre in Uvalde, and whether to implement some form of vouchers. A chorus of special interests and paid advocates are working to influence the outcome. If you want to be a bigger part of the conversation, then you must continue to speak up.

What can you and your educator-colleagues do to make your voices heard on these critical issues? First, keep yourself informed by reading ATPE’s TeachtheVote.org advocacy blog. Here, we break down what’s happening at the Capitol, discuss critical pieces of pending legislation and how they will affect you, and bring you up to date on public education policy.

Next, you can call your state representative and state senator. ATPE members can use the tools in ATPE’s Advocacy Central to make contact with lawmakers on critical issues. This is a great way to build relationships with legislators and their staff, ask them questions, share your experiences, and tell them how the legislation under consideration will affect your classroom. Numbers and data are great, but nothing beats hearing stories from those on the front lines who will be directly impacted by proposed legislation. Lawmakers connect with these stories, and they consider them when casting their votes.

Getting started on Advocacy Central is as simple as visiting the ATPE website, choosing a campaign, personalizing the prepopulated message, and clicking a button to send your thoughts to your elected officials. It’s that easy! As of this writing, we have campaigns on vouchers, educator pay, retiree COLA, and teacher planning time, so please engage with these campaigns to let your legislators know where you stand on these important issues.

Finally, you must refuse to check out as the session draws to a close. It is easy and tempting to tune out what’s happening in Austin as you navigate testing season and end-of-year activities. Burnout is real, and you may feel your voice will not matter anyhow. Sometimes we feel we don’t have anything important to say and that we aren’t educated enough on the issues to make informed recommendations—but I’m here to tell you, YOU are the expert, and legislators need to hear from you. Show up, call, email, and make sure your voice is heard as we finish the school year—and the legislative session—strong.

There are voices in the Capitol right now advocating for ideas and legislation that will harm you and your students. Your voice is absolutely critical, and you must use it to drown out the opposition and put our critical issues over the finish line. With approximately 750,000 Texas public school employees—not to mention thousands of school board trustees and parents who choose public schools—the only way the other side will be louder is if we let them be.