Dear #TeamTSTA,
Welcome to the Texas State Teachers Association 145th House of Delegates!
This year’s theme, Power Through Local Organizing: Vote Education First!, recognizes the incredible work of our local associations throughout the year and calls us to action as we move into a rigorous and critical campaign season this fall. We must ensure victory in November and not just Get Out the Vote, but get out EVERY vote in order to elect pro-public education candidates who will put the needs of our students first! We have to seize this moment and take this opportunity to make certain that the things that matter for our students, educators, and communities also matter to the people we vote into office. Things like smaller class sizes, higher compensation, better benefits, improved working conditions and learning conditions, more support (not attacks) for our public schools, and a living wage for all employees. This will make all the difference when we fight back against vouchers, limitations on curriculum and textbooks, elimination of due process rights and attacks on our students. This will make all the difference as we advocate for our members at all levels of the organization, from Aspiring Educators to Pre-K-12, to Higher Ed and Retired.
Organizing for and through local power is our path to moving a pro-public education agenda in Texas. It is the very core of our political movement. We must consistently talk to, register, and make sure our colleagues, families, and friends vote for pro-public school candidates and then organize them to get everyone in their sphere of influence and beyond to the ballot box for every election- local, state, and national. It is time to write a new chapter for all our students, educators and communities. We are change makers, and together we will continue to create the change we want to see and make history this November #TeamTSTA!
Our mission to “provide a quality public school for every child” demands power through local action. You are the leaders we need for this mission! Thank you for everything you’ve done, for everything you do, and for everything you will continue to do for our students, our colleagues, and our communities; and a great big thank you for voting pro-public education first in every election from now until November, and in every election thereafter.
Ovidia Molina, TSTA president