About Us

The American Federation of Teachers is a union of professionals that champions fairness; democracy; economic opportunity; and high-quality public education, healthcare and public services for our students, their families and our communities. We are committed to advancing these principles through community engagement, organizing, collective bargaining and political activism, and especially through the work our members do.

Who We Represent

Texas AFT represents all non-administrative certified and classified public school employees in traditional public schools and some charter schools. We represent the interests of teachers, counselors, librarians, diagnosticians, custodians, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, nurses, teaching assistants, clerical employees, and the other men and women who work so hard to make our schools work. We also represent employees in universities, colleges and community and junior colleges.

What We Offer

$8 million professional liability insurance

$20,000 job-related legal defense

$12,000 no

Texas AFT — On Your Side, At Your Service

Chartered in 1974 as the Texas Federation of Teachers, the union changed it's name to Texas AFT in 2007. Texas AFT is the state affiliate of the 1.4 million-member American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO. Our membership consists of teachers and other educational workers who have joined together to provide a strong voice for education in the community, at the state level, and at a national level.

Texas AFT has grown from 23,000 members in 1993 to more than 65,000 today. Our numbers include public school teachers, paraprofessionals and school related

On April 15, 1916, teacher unionists gathered at the City Club on Plymouth Court in Chicago to form a new national union: the American Federation of Teachers. The founders included three teacher groups in Chicago and locals from Gary, Ind., New York City, Scranton, Pa., and Washington, D.C. Within a month, the union received its charter--bearing Samuel Gompers' distinctive signature--from the AFL.

It was, in fact, the Chicago teachers, along with their AFL-affiliated counterparts in San Antonio, Texas, who fixed on the idea that teachers should be affiliated with the labor movement. (In 1902