Oct. 10, 2025: ‘Empty School Buildings’

If you'rea regular reader of this newsletter - even if you'renot a member of our union - there is one thing we know about you: you care about Texas public schools.

(If you don't, then maybe this isn't theemail for you …)

Amid an increasingly turbulent environment, our public schools and all who work and learn in them need support and attention more than ever.

That'swhy we encourage youto read the latest reporting from ProPublica, a nonpartisan, investigative news outlet: These Activists Want to Dismantle Public Schools. Now They Run the Education Department.

This in-depth reportingpeers inside Secretary Linda McMahon's Department of Education, wherein just eight months:

The stated goalof theserapid-fire directives, as put by one top advisor appointed by McMahon? "A lot of empty school buildings."

If you'reready to do something about these relentlessattacks, here'sone place to start.

The federal government has shut down, and that is bad newsfor Texas. As the Texas AFL-CIO notes, our state is home to the third-most federal workers in the country and the highest number of American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) members. This shutdown will lock out hundreds of thousands of federal employees from doing their jobs while forcing hundreds of thousands more - like TSA officers or VA caregivers - to work without pay.

Let'sbe clear: We do not want this shutdown. Our members, our families, and our communities deserve stability. But we also cannot support a deal that slashes Medicaid and ends AffordableCare Act (ACA) premium tax credits that keep health care premiums affordable for millions of Americans.

San Antonio educator and Texas AFT member Adrian Reyna is running for the Texas House in District 125, which covers a large part of northwest San Antonio. As a longtime member and vice president of the San Antonio Alliance, representing San Antonio ISD employees, Reyna brings more than 15 years of education and labor experience to the table.

Reyna comes from a long line of public school teachers, which inspired him to become one himself. He teaches U.S. History in SAISD and has built his career around service, public education, and advocating for working families.

After months of uncertainty, the Trump Administration has resumed student loan forgivenessunder the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) program, providing relief to borrowers who had been left in limbo after the program was paused in July.

The IBR plan allows borrowers to have remaining balances canceled after 20 or 25 years of qualifying payments. Earlier this year, the Department of Education(DOE)halted discharges, citing system updates tied to court injunctionsaffecting other income-driven repayment programs, even though IBR itself remained statutorily authorized. The pause left many borrowers, including educators, nurses, and public servants, uncertain whether forgiveness would ever resume.

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Rural Americans who rely on Head Start worry about its future: 'Without free childcare I couldn't work'. In small towns and rural areas throughout the country, voters like Ohio massage therapist Sara Laughlin were key to both Donald Trump's election victories. Laughlin was"dumbfounded" when she heard that Head Start, the early childhood program she credits for providing stability for her family, was on the chopping blockin Trump's budget proposal. (The Guardian, Sept. 28)