Texas Association of Community Schools

October 19, 2017

Texas Educators Vote Update

Early Voting

Early voting for the November 7, 2017 election begins in a few short days on Monday, October 23rd and continues through November 3rd. Many of your districts have bond elections, school board elections, and every Texas voter will have 7 constitutional amendments on their ballot. Creating a culture of voting means voting in every election, and this is no exception. The outcomes of these elections will have major consequences for educators and their communities. Elections are when individuals have the most power to have a say in their world. Let’s not silence our own voices by not voting.

Encourage your district employees and eligible students to vote early, know what is on the ballot, and make sure they understand the importance of researching the issues and candidates they will vote on. There are some great non-partisan sites that make preparing to vote fast and easy.

1. The League of Women Voter’s Vote 411 website helps you build your ballot! Click here to find out what is on your ballot.
2. You may also want to send them the link to information on bond or school board elections that are up for a vote. Remember, you CANNOT endorse a bond or candidates, but you CAN (and should) share the facts.
3. The Texas Secretary of State website has information and explanations of the constitutional amendments on the ballot.

Spread that Oath!

We are excited to have a constant stream of districts informing us that their school board has signed the TASB Culture of Voting Resolution, and the number of Oath's signed has doubled in just a week. We are extremely encouraged by how seriously you are taking this challenge! But, we still have a long way to go to get to get the half a million, or ideally the million Oaths necessary to make sure educators are heard at the polls in March. We need to double the number of Oaths signed each week to have enough committed voters to turn out and have a major impact on the primary election. This is no easy task, but we are up to the challenge! Educators and their allies think about the 5.4 million kids in Texas schools every moment of every day, but the moment when they have the most power is when they cast their vote! So, let’s get that Oath spread far and wide.

Share the Oath with: teachers, counselors, administrators, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, custodians, aides, school board trustees, PTA members, other district employees and their families, and community members. All of these people are considered educators as they support and enrich the educational experience of our children.

This week, we are urging you double the number of people in your district who have signed the Oath to Vote!

As we promised last week, we are happy to send you the list of who in your district has signed the Oath. We can even send you a weekly update! Just email us at info@texaseducatorsvote.com and ask! Quite a few districts have taken us up on this offer and we are noticing that many of those districts are really taking off in the competition!

Top districts for Oath’s taken so far are:
Princeton ISD – 197
Van ISD – 153
East Central ISD – 136
Alamo Heights ISD – 124
Lytle ISD – 112
Crosby ISD – 106
Paris ISD – 71
Palmer ISD – 62
Quinlan ISD – 59
Celina ISD – 56
Blooming Grove ISD – 51
Sanger ISD – 50
Merkel ISD – 48
Clyde CISD – 41
Holliday ISD – 39
Jarrell ISD – 37
Bullard ISD – 33
Cleveland ISD – 32
Krum ISD – 30
Martin's Mill ISD – 30
Navasota ISD – 25
Coppell ISD – 24
Hawkins ISD – 23
Childress ISD – 22
Olney ISD – 22
Thrall ISD – 22
Karnes City ISD – 19
Hillsboro ISD – 16
Elgin ISD – 15
Galveston ISD – 15
Floydada ISD – 14
Pflugerville ISD – 13
New Deal ISD – 12
Plemons-Stinnett-Phillips CISD – 12
Dumas ISD – 11
Lamesa ISD – 11
Lefors ISD – 11
Moody ISD – 11
Stamford ISD – 11
Vega ISD – 11
Chico ISD – 10
Edna ISD – 10
Mildred ISD – 10
Wells ISD – 10

All Star Districts — Have joined, adopted the Resolution, and are signing the Oath
12 new All Star Districts this week are in RED
Austin ISD
Big Spring ISD
Blooming Grove ISD
Bullard ISD
Celina ISD
Chico ISD
Claude ISD
Coppell ISD
Crosby ISD
DeKalb ISD
Eula ISD
Floresville ISD
Granbury ISD
Haskell CISD
Hereford ISD
Holliday ISD
Ira ISD
Jarrell ISD
Karnes City ISD
Krum ISD
La Joya ISD
Lamesa ISD
Lockhart ISD
Lytle ISD
Martin’s Mill ISD
Merkel ISD
Midway ISD (ESC 12)
Millsap ISD
Moody ISD
Moran ISD
Olney ISD
Palmer ISD
Paris ISD
Quinlan ISD
Scurry-Rosser ISD
Thrall ISD
Veribest ISD
Waskom ISD

If your district isn’t participating yet, it isn’t too late. Click here to join us.

If your board hasn’t yet signed the resolution, please ask them to! Download the resolutionand then let us know when they have adopted it by emailing us at info@texaseducatorsvote.com.

Lastly, here is the Oath for educators, staff, parents, and other public education allies to sign.

In review, your challenges this week are:
1. Encourage your staff to be informed early voters, and
2. Double the number of Oaths signed in your district!

Let us know how we can help you meet these tough and important challenges!

Sincerely,

Laura Yeager
TACS Governmental Affairs
Director, Texas Educators Vote