Dear #TeamTSTA,

Welcome to the Texas State Teachers Association 144th House of Delegates! This year’s theme, Power Through Local Action, recognizes our local accomplishments over the last year and calls us to action as we move into the heart of the legislative session. We must seize this moment and take this opportunity to push for the changes we know our students, educators and communities need. Higher compensation, better benefits, improved working conditions, smaller class sizes, more support, a living wage for all employees needs to happen now!  We must fight back against vouchers, limitations on curriculum and textbooks, elimination of due process rights and attacks on our students.

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!

Together, through organizing, we’ve accomplished much this year at the local level. It has been a difficult and challenging time, but we continue to organize and challenge the politicians running this state who put their political careers over the well-being of all our students, educators, and communities. And we will not stop!  We will never give in!  We will never give up!  Power through local action is a constant movement in our union to improve our schools for our members and our students, and we are committed to doing that. 

Organizing for 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 constantly be registering our colleagues, families, and friends to vote for pro-public-school candidates and then organize them to contact their elected officials when they are meeting. We must be focused on power through local action every day. It is time to write a new chapter for all our students, educators and communities. Let’s continue to be the change we want to see and make history #TeamTSTA!

Thank you for being here for this convention. We are honored to stand with you, to stand strongly TOGETHER! Thank you for your leadership in our union: Organize, create change, take care and stay safe!

Ovidia Molina, TSTA president