Texas Federation of Teachers

Background and History

The Texas AFT was chartered as a state affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers in 1974 as the Texas Federation of Teachers and changed its name to the Texas AFT in 2007. The union reported 23,000 members in 1993 and at one point claimed to have 65,000 members; however, as of 2023 the union reported 40,000 active members. The Texas AFT is one of two major statewide teachers’ unions in Texas, the other being the Texas State Teachers Association, which is affiliated with the National Education Association. ^{4 5}

Activities

COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic the Texas AFT opposed efforts by Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) to return to in person school in the fall of 2020. The union launched protests in Houston, Dallas, Cedar Hill, El Paso, Socorro, Austin, Judson, South Texas, and San Antonio opposing reopening, and at least one Texas AFT affiliate, Cy-Fair AFT, obtained a legal injunction against the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District to stop the administration from requiring its teachers to enter school buildings, a ruling that was later struck down by the Texas Supreme Court. ^{6 7 8}

The Texas AFT also sued Luther Burbank High School for placing teacher Luke Amphlett on administrative leave for conducting union activities on school property in the form of openly opposing the school reopening. ⁹

Lobbying

The Texas AFT’s legislative priorities have included addressing school violence by promoting legislation banning certain types of firearms, among other initiatives, and opposing the expansion of school choice programs. The group has also consistently promoted teacher pay raises, calling for a $10,000 salary increase for teachers and a 15 percent raise for other school employees. ^{10 11}

Texas Education Agency Lawsuit

In January 2026, the Texas AFT filed a lawsuit against the Texas Education Agency (TEA) challenging a state policy that prompted investigations into educators’ social media posts following the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk during a college appearance in Utah. The lawsuit argues that investigations into “reprehensible and inappropriate” posts related to the shooting  violated teachers’ First Amendment rights and led to retaliation, including reprimands, administrative leave, terminations, and doxing of union members. ¹²

According to the suit, more than 350 complaints against educators were filed, with the majority later dismissed or unsubstantiated. Texas AFT President Zeph Capo stated that the policy disproportionately targeted educators for protected speech, while AFT President Randi Weingarten described the lawsuit as the first to challenge such a post-incident investigation policy. State officials said investigations focused on alleged violations of the educator code of conduct and that no state sanctions had been imposed as of the filing. ¹²

Leadership

Zeph Capo is the president of the Texas American Federation of Teachers (Texas AFT) and was previously the president of the Houston Federation of Teachers. Capo was an outspoken opponent of the Texas government’s decision to reopen schools in the fall of 2020 with a flexible mask policy during the COVID-19 pandemic. ¹³

Endorsements

In the 2020 election, the Texas AFT endorsed 11 Democratic U.S. Representatives, 10 Democratic State Senators, 80 Democratic State Representatives, and three Democratic State Board of Education candidates. The organization endorsed no Republican U.S. Representatives, State Senators, or board of education members; however, the union did endorse 13 Republican Texas State Representatives. ¹⁴

In 2024, the union endorsed then-Vice President Kamala Harris for President and then-U.S. Representative Colin Allred (D-TX) for U.S. Senate along with 17 Democratic candidates in the U.S. House, and dozens of Democratic candidates for state legislative seats. ¹