Don’t stop me if you’ve heard this one. Texas lawmakers are once again going after educators and trying to silence your voices. With the clock ticking on the 2025 regular session, some legislators are determined to cram through bills targeting payroll deduction of membership dues for educator associations such as ATPE, curbing the ability of public education organizations to advocate, and even limiting our ability to offer professional development to our own members. 

The latest bill in the spotlight is House Bill (HB) 5019 by Rep. Giovanni Capriglione (R–Southlake). (Rep. Will Metcalf (R–Conroe) is a co-author of the bill.) Filed only one day before this session’s bill filing deadline, HB 5019 seemed like a bit of an afterthought until it reportedly caught the attention of Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and was hurriedly added to the agenda for the House Public Education Committee’s hearing this week. ATPE testified against the bill late Tuesday night, and you can read more about that May 6 committee hearing in this blog post from ATPE Lobbyist Tricia Cave. 

The Texas Senate, meanwhile, brought us Senate Bill (SB) 2330 by Sen. Tan Parker (R–Flower Mound), which would also eliminate your ability to use payroll deduction for your professional association dues. (Sens. Brandon Creighton (R–Conroe), Phil King (R–Arlington), and Mayes Middleton (R–Galveston) are co-authors on the bill.) Parker claimed the intent of his bill was to keep the government out of the business of collecting dues for professional associations, but he has no problem with the government deducting dues for police, fire, and EMS unions, which are exempted from the bill. Going a step further, SB 2330 even requires school districts to deduct membership dues upon the request of its law enforcement personnel—but not for its teachers, principals, bus drivers, custodians, or countless other hardworking school employees. It’s clear that government involvement in dues deduction is not the real reason for this bill; it’s a targeted attack on educators.  

The Senate passed SB 2330 on a vote of 19–12, supported by all Republican senators except Sen. Robert Nichols (R–Jacksonville), who joined with Senate Democrats in voting against the bill. That bill has been sent over to the House but not yet referred to a committee. A related bill, HB 4525 by Rep. Carl Tepper (R–Lubbock) was referred to the House State Affairs Committee but never scheduled for a hearing. 

HB 5019 was left pending Tuesday night in the House Public Education Committee, which only has until Monday, May 12, to advance a House bill from the committee and keep it alive under session deadlines. The House is working this weekend, and at virtually any time it could schedule a vote on HB 5019. 

Among other provisions, HB 5019 would do the following: 

• Restrict ATPE’s ability to offer professional development training that earns you continuing professional education (CPE) credit. Sessions you attend at the annual ATPE Summit, for example, would no longer be approved for CPE credits because ATPE also advocates for its members. Texas’ educator certificate renewal requirements focus largely on your being trained in professional ethics and standards of conduct. Among the most popular sessions offered at the ATPE Summit and elsewhere have been our updates on new laws and regulations for educators—keeping you up to speed on what the state expects from you as a certified educator. These would go by the wayside under HB 5019. 
• Prevent the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) from participating in purchasing cooperatives that help school districts and charter schools save money on purchases of equipment and supplies—everything from playground equipment to desks to cleaning products. 
• Prevent you from using payroll deduction for dues you opt to pay to a professional association such as ATPE—unless your dues are going to a policy, fire, or EMS union or to an association “established or managed by a government entity.” 

If that last part catches your eye, it should. HB 5019 also calls for the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to handpick “one or more third parties” to provide professional liability insurance for school employees, as well as “assistance in understanding the employee’s rights, duties, and benefits.” That entity will charge you a fee for these services, and the school district will deduct those fees from your paycheck.  

In other words, the Legislature does not want to allow payroll deduction to remit your dues to ATPE for liability insurance, legal representation, and the host of other services we provide, but lawmakers will permit payroll deduction to send your money to another entity that TEA selects as a partner—presumably an organization that won’t push back on any of the governor’s, the agency’s, or Commissioner Mike Morath’s initiatives, such as school district takeovers.  

Also, if you’re currently having your membership dues for ATPE or similar organization deducted from your paycheck, HB 5019 would order school districts to automatically move your payments over to that new TEA-selected organization. (You can opt out, but it will be your responsibility to notify the school district in writing that you don’t want your money going to that entity.) 

In our years of defending your rights against anti-educator bills like these, HB 5019 is one of the most heavy-handed, patronizing, and ethically questionable bills we’ve seen, and the decision to set it for a committee hearing during Teacher Appreciation Week adds insult to injury. Lawmakers supporting this effort believe or have been duped into believing that you are incapable of making your own decisions about how to spend your money, that you have been coerced into joining ATPE against your will, and that taxpayer funds are being spent on associations that dare to represent the interests of professional educators, their schools, and their students. Let’s say it again for the people in the back who may not have heard before: ATPE is not a taxpayer-funded entity! Your paycheck does not belong to the people of Texas; it is your hard-earned money that you may spend as you choose. 

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In fact, some educators may choose to pay for the TEA-approved liability insurance if HB 5019 passes, which is their right. It might even be cheaper than what ATPE or other educator associations offer. But would you really want TEA’s partner association to give you legal guidance if you’re accused of misconduct on the job? If you’re at risk of losing your certificate and facing sanctions at the hands of TEA-hired attorneys, do you believe another set of TEA-hired attorneys is going to give you the best advice on how to save your job? It’s the proverbial case of the fox guarding the henhouse. 

ATPE has fought these bills targeting your dues deduction rights for the past decade. We’ve tirelessly explained that your use of payroll deduction for your voluntary membership dues does not cost taxpayers a dime. We’ve reminded lawmakers that no one in Texas can be forced to join a union or professional association. We’ve illustrated the benefits ATPE membership offers educators that have nothing to do with advocacy, such as access to professional development courses for continuing education credit that is required to maintain your state certification. We’ve even pointed out that a majority of campaign contributions from our political action committee, the ATPE-PAC, have gone to Republican candidates and officeholders. But the lawmakers pushing these bills seem willing to ignore all that logic and reason because they’re laser-focused on one premise—that ATPE and other educator groups are making it far too difficult to pass anti-public education measures such as micromanaging your curriculum and teaching methods, disempowering locally elected school boards, and funding private school vouchers instead of our communities’ public schools. 

The ink is not yet dry on a new Texas law that will send billions in taxpayer funding to unregulated private schools. Its proponents, including Gov. Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), and their wealthy campaign donors, demanded that the so-called “school choice” of parents be protected by enshrining vouchers in state law and committing taxpayers to paying for them. What legislators have not passed this session are a school finance bill, an educator pay raise, a standardized testing overhaul, and measures to improve the safety of your classrooms. In the waning weeks of the session, why are those bills languishing while lawmakers waste time debating how you should spend your own personal funds and complaining about those pesky educator associations that seem a little too effective at advocating for their members? 

ATPE has urged members to educate their own lawmakers on how misguided bills like HB 5019 and SB 2330 are. Many ATPE members and other educators have already taken time to call and write to their elected officials. In conjunction with Tuesday’s hearing, the House Public Education committee published 70 pages of public comments it received on HB 5019, overwhelming from educators who oppose the bill. Their words speak volumes, and highlights of their sentiments are worthy of being repeated: 

• ATPE State President Jason Forbis wrote: “Parents were given choices, now give it to educators who chose to join associations and how they pay their dues.” 
• Another ATPE member, Amarillo’s Blythe Chapman, wrote: “Why would you want to limit offering educators continuing credit hours for learning more about how government works? Shouldn’t educators be informed so that we can better teach our students about civic duty and responsibilities? … I DO NOT want my choices limited by TEA.” 
• Brooke Anna Roberts, a school counselor in Purdon and alumnus of Leadership ATPE, wrote about the value of payroll deducting membership dues, especially for school employees who are “underpaid and overburdened” and simply trying to “stay connected to professional communities that keep them informed, empowered, and protected.” Roberts added: “Eliminating this option would create a barrier to access, disproportionately affecting those who are already struggling financially. It would also weaken the voice of educators at a time when they need more support than ever, not less.”
   
  Roberts also criticized HB 5019’s proposal to let TEA manage liability insurance and employment rights protection for school workers: “Educators in Texas are held to high legal and ethical standards, and when accusations or misunderstandings arise, they deserve a fair and impartial defense. It is fundamentally unjust to require educators to rely on insurance administered or connected to the same state apparatus that may be prosecuting or disciplining them. Independent liability insurance ensures that educators receive objective, conflict-free representation. This is not about shielding bad actors—it’s about protecting good teachers from being unjustly punished without due process. It upholds the principle that no one should have to rely on their accuser for their defense.” 
• ATPE Past State President Jayne Serna commented: “I am surprised to read that in an era where there is a dramatic teacher shortage, you would even consider a bill of this nature.” 
• Summing up the impact of HB 5019 succinctly, Keller ATPE Member David Williams wrote: “This is another slap in the face of educators.” 

It is time for the Legislature to treat educators like the professional, learned adults they are. An educator’s choice to join a professional association to protect their livelihood, stay informed and advance their skills through continuing education, mentor and support their colleagues, encourage fellow Texans to vote, and actively engage in democracy should be celebrated, not denigrated, this Teacher Appreciation Week.