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New 茶 guidance allows for extending remote-only instruction up to eight weeks in total
虽然我们还有很长的路要走, the Texas Education Agency is finally beginning to listen to teachers. Probably the most significant provision of today’s 更新的指导 将过渡期延长至四周，各区可以限制校内教学. 指导意见还允许学校董事会投票将过渡期再延长四周.
这有效地允许学校远程运营长达八周，只要该地区能够确保所有学生都能访问互联网和/或设备. 否则，茶州的家长有权在校学习，即使是在这段时间. Note that this provision requires the district to affirmatively make this decision, 茶专员Mike Morath继续鼓励各区尽可能多地让孩子们进入校园.
德州尾 President Zeph分支头目 said, 他说:“教师们反对危险的重新开学计划的浪潮，击退了不计后果地推动学校开学的努力. 今天的公告给予了更多的时间来逐步采用远程教学，这是认识到教师和家长的合理担忧的一个很好的举措. But it’s not a question of how many weeks until on-site instruction is the norm. 它的安全, 而不是政治或经济, the top priority for our students and teachers in every decision.”
该指南明显缺少的是如何解决COVID - 19在社区中的流行问题. Based on current knowledge of 新型冠状病毒肺炎 and its spread, 我们需要听从卫生专业人员的建议，等待学校开学，直到我们看到新病例和住院人数明显下降至少14天. This needs to be the first step before thinking about anything else.
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决选结果回顾
Educators in Texas were heavily involved in the July 14 径流选举 (moved from May to July due to the coronavirus). 在美国.S. 参议院竞选, educators from across Texas supported State Senator Royce West, 谁在他的出价中差一点. We look forward to Senator West’s continued public education leadership in the Texas Senate.
在巨大的混乱中, 在佩妮·莫拉莱斯·肖(Penny Morales Shaw)击败一所由外州特许学校组织支持的现任校长的竞选活动中，休斯顿的教育工作者发挥了关键作用. 然而,, 在挫折的教师, LGBT社区, 生育权利的倡导者, 前教师萨拉·斯台普顿·巴雷拉(Sara Stapleton Barrera)输给了一个长期支持学校私有化的人，这个人的花费以10比1超过了她.
公立学校冠军代表. 埃迪·罗德里格斯在奥斯丁第14选区的特别选举中做出了勇敢的努力, but was unable to defeat former Travis County judge Sarah Eckhardt, who came in just under the 50% threshold needed to avoid a runoff with him. Turnout among 德州尾 members was high, 这表明他们有热情在11月塑造他们的社区中发挥主导作用.
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TRS Board hears on status of pension fund amid pandemic, but details on retiree health plans still unknown
TRS基金状况良好, 尽管新型冠状病毒肺炎大流行, and markets are showing signs of a faster rebound than in the last U.S. recession, the chief investment officer for TRS told the Board of Trustees this week.
T在这里 was hope that TRS would discuss details for the new retiree health plans. Unfortunately, little new information was made available during the board meeting. 计划指南将在9月份发布，TRS将在10月份为退休人员举办网络研讨会，讨论他们的计划选择. 现役和退休人员还应了解直接应对新型冠状病毒肺炎计划的变化:
TRS-Care医疗保险的优势
• No medical co-pays for all diagnostic testing
• No cost sharing for: Telemedicine and 新型冠状病毒肺炎 related treatment
• Specialized support and telemedicine assistance
• Early refills for maintenance medications
TRS-Care标准 & TRS-ActiveCare
• No member cost sharing for: Telemedicine; all 新型冠状病毒肺炎 related diagnostic testing; 新型冠状病毒肺炎 related inpatient treatment
• Care packages those who contract 新型冠状病毒肺炎
• Early refills for maintenance medications
• Access to mental health and nurse hotlines and materials
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的 Costs of education 大流行期间: Why we need the HEROES Act
On July 10, the Legislative Study Group Caucus put out a report on the costs of education 
大流行期间. 他们要求公众联系他们的国会代表和参议员，要求他们支持英雄法案中的900亿美元教育资金. Some $58 billion of that money would cover K-12 education needs, 德克萨斯州将得到60亿美元的资金注入，专门用于我们的学校和高等教育机构——除了用于稳定未来两年的州预算的资金.
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德州劳联-产联 is organizing for better unemployment benefits
由于冠状病毒大流行，全国和德克萨斯州的失业率都创下了历史新高, many Texas workers are afraid of losing their income. 丢掉工作已经够难的了, but in Texas the unemployment compensation system is a nightmare in and of itself. 的 system is too often slow, outdated, and underfunded. 试图为失业工人提供服务的国家雇员被迫用更少的钱做更多的事. 这是完全不能接受的. Texas must do more for its citizens.
的 德州劳联-产联 已与 每一个德克萨斯 制定一个 10点计划 根据他们从全州失业工人那里得到的反馈，使失业制度现代化. 的 plan includes thoughtful steps to reorganize the system, including measures that would increase staffing, remove arbitrary bureaucratic barriers, and streamline applying for direct emergency relief. You can sign on to their petition by clicking 在这里.
德州劳联-产联也在提供资源，帮助失业工人应对复杂的薪酬体系. You can access those resources by clicking 在这里.
Thank you to our public education champions for stepping up when we need you most
在德克萨斯州，公共教育工作者和公共教育本身正在遭受攻击，这已经不是什么秘密了. 我们自己的州长一直在制定重新开放德州公立学校的计划，几乎没有考虑到教师的安全和福祉. 私有化 forces have long been waging a war against public education for years now. 像这样的时候, when public educators feel attacked from all sides, we are incredibly thankful to our leaders who choose to stand with educators across Texas.
T在这里 are many public education champions in the Texas Legislature who are fighting for us, and many have come to our aid in big ways just these past couple weeks. One such advocate is Representative Donna Howard, who recently released a 公开声明 要求政府. 要优先考虑教师和学生的安全，并为学校提供足够的资金以安全地重新开放, because she sees that the current plan clearly is not adequate. Likewise, fellow central Texas Rep. 艾琳·兹维纳发来了一封 公开信 德克萨斯州教育局(茶)专员迈克·莫拉斯(Mike Morath)告诉他暂停重新开放学校的计划，直到安全重新开放.
众议员特里·卡纳莱斯(Terry Canales)一直是公共教育工作者的坚定捍卫者，他本人也是如此 公开信 阿博特州长在推特上表达了他对学校重开的担忧, 不断谴责州长和茶的鲁莽行为，并提高公共教育工作者的声音.
One of our allies on the other side of the capitol, 参议员何塞·梅内德斯, has been an exceptional advocate for teacher safety. 他的办公室组织了一项针对公共教育工作者和公共教育利益相关者的调查，显示了社区对政府的关注. Abbott’s hazardous and shortsighted plan to reopen schools. 的 results of the survey can be seen by clicking 在这里.
Now more than ever, the work of our friends in the Texas legislature is appreciated. 我们感谢你的支持.
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Texas American Federation of Teachers represents more than 65,000名教师, 非专业人员, 支持人员, and higher-education employees across the state. 德州尾隶属于1.6-million-member American Federation of Teachers.