Teachers are required to resign a contract no later than 45 days before the first day of instruction. A district may release a teacher voluntarily after that date, but is not compelled to do so.
With collective bargaining, educators advocate not only for their working conditions, but also for student learning conditions. We lift our voice for fair compensation and benefits, and also for: Smaller class sizes. Less testing and more time for learning.
First, it is important to understand that teachers in Texas do not have a lot of rights, in part, because of the absence of collective bargaining. The rights you do have are listed in the contract you signed, local school board policy, and the Texas Education Code.
Every worker in Texas has the right to join a union. However, in Texas, only private sector union workers are allowed to collectively bargain, whereas public sector workers, like teachers and education staff, are banned from collective bargaining.
Only 35 states, plus the District of Columbia, guarantee K–12 teachers some right to organize and collectively bargain. In the other six states (Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and most recently, Arkansas), public-employee collective bargaining is expressly prohibited by law.
- Unions provide professional development opportunities, training, and resources to help teachers improve their skills and effectiveness. Job Protection: - Unions help protect teachers from arbitrary dismissal and ensure due process in disciplinary actions, fostering a more secure work environment.
101.001. RIGHT TO ORGANIZE. All persons engaged in any kind of labor may associate and form trade unions and other organizations to protect themselves in their personal labor in their respective employment.
How are states allowed to prohibit teachers from doing something that many workers view as a fundamental freedom? The right to form unions, strike, bargain collectively, and take other actions are laid out in the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, or NLRA.