Texas House Speaker Joe Straus (R-San Antonio) is sending a strong message to educators across Texas: The Speaker stands with educators who are encouraging a culture of voting across the state, and against recent voter intimidation efforts directed at the education community.

“Put me down as supporting a culture of voting, among teachers and all eligible Texans,” Straus said in a newsletter dated February 23.

As the first week of early voting continues, Speaker Straus reminded voters that the polls are open this weekend for those who would like to vote early in the March 6 primary. Early voting continues through March 2, and polls will be open again from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on election day, March 6.

In his letter, the Speaker explicitly called out voter intimidation efforts aimed at educators. It’s no secret that educators are mobilizing like never before ahead of the March 6 primary elections, and many school districts are enthusiastically exercising their legal obligation to encourage voting and civic engagement. As a member of the Texas Educators Vote coalition, ATPE has worked alongside other education and civic groups to increase voter turnout among educators and share nonpartisan election resources with school employees. These efforts came under attack earlier this year when state Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) engaged Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a naked attempt to chill these efforts. Soon after, the state’s most notorious privately funded special interest group staged its own voter intimidation campaign directed at teachers. The campaign backfired spectacularly, with the internet uniting behind the social media hashtag #BlowingTheWhistle to highlight the impactful stories of dedicated educators making a difference. ATPE wrote about the Twitter backlash on our Teach the Vote blog. In his letter Friday, Straus wrote:

“I've often said that we need more Texans voting in primaries so that candidates are responsive and accountable to a broader set of Texans and their concerns. Unfortunately, some elected leaders in Austin and their allies have been trying to discourage voting among one important group of Texans: School teachers.

Some members of our community have received a letter from an Austin special interest group criticizing local school leaders for promoting a "culture of voting." This group apparently feels threatened by the fact that education leaders are encouraging civic participation.

It's easy to understand why educators and others who support public schools want to vote. Those of us who have prioritized public education have been met with resistance from other elected leaders. As a result, our school finance system still desperately needs reform, and the lack of state dollars going into public education is driving local property taxes higher and higher.”

Teachers, parents, taxpayers need to be heard from in the primary elections. Polls are open this weekend. #txlege https://t.co/8gfnGMSjcI
— Joe Straus (@SpeakerStraus) February 23, 2018

During the 2017 legislative session, Speaker Straus led the Texas House in blocking harmful bills aimed at weakening the public education system and fought to pass a school finance reform bill that would have increased school funding by as much as $1.9 billion. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and the Texas Senate killed that bill, which would have benefited 5.4 million Texas students, as payback.

ATPE lobbyists presented House Speaker Joe Straus with an honorary resolution adopted by the ATPE House of Delegates in July 2017.

Speaker Straus was honored as “Texan of the Year” by the Dallas Morning News for his efforts to avoid controversial crusades and keep the legislature focused on the business of improving Texans’ lives. This week, he was awarded “International Citizen of the Year” as well by the World Affairs Council of San Antonio. During the 2017 special session, ATPE also presented Straus with an honorary resolution adopted by our House of Delegates last summer in recognition of his support for public education.

The Speaker has indicated he will not be running for reelection, which means those who vote in the primary elections underway now will determine what type of leader takes his place.

Educators MUST VOTE NOW or risk facing a hostile legislature in 2019. ATPE encourages you to look up who’s running in your area on the CANDIDATES page of our website, then go to the polls and use your teacher voice!