The Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE)—the state’s largest educator association representing approximately 100,000 members across Texas—has awarded its highest honor to all Texas public school employees in recognition of their work during the COVID-19 pandemic. The association presented the award during its virtual ATPE Summit, which took place July 12-15. 

Previous recipients have included education leaders, education advocates, and elected officials—including former Texas Speaker Joe Straus.  

The Judy Coyle Texas Liberty Award is named after one of ATPE’s founding members, Judy Coyle. Coyle was a long-time educator who strove daily to better the public education system here in Texas.  

For many ATPE members, Coyle’s lifetime dedication to serving public schools is representative of ATPE’s pro-public education values. The decision to award to public school employees came after a unanimous vote by the ATPE Board of Directors. 

“Texas’ public school employees have gone above and beyond for our schools and our students during the last year, from adapting to the many, many challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic to weathering the hardships brought about by the winter storm of 2021,” said 2020-21 ATPE State President Jimmy Lee. “In 2021, the Association of Texas Professional Educators could think of no one individual who has done more for public education than our public school employees did collectively over the past year, and it is our honor to share this with them.”   

For more information about the Judy Coyle Texas Liberty Award or the ATPE Summit, contact pr@atpe.org.  

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About the Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE)  
Founded in 1980, ATPE is the leading educators’ association in Texas with approximately 100,000 members statewide. With its strong collaborative philosophy, ATPE speaks for classroom teachers, administrators, and future, retired, and para-educators and works to create better opportunities for Texas’ five million public school students. | atpe.org