Judith Zaffirini | TCTA
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Judith Zaffirini

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Sen. Judith Zaffirini (incumbent)
Democrat
Position sought: Senator, District 21

Education group support

Unavailable

Record on Key Senate Votes in 2025

Vote 1Vote 2Vote 3
 
Yes Vote

For TCTA position
 

Yes Vote

For TCTA position
 

Yes Vote

For TCTA position
 

The following were some of the key bills and amendments before the senate that were of interest to educators during the 2025 legislative sessions.

  • Vote No. 1 — SB 2 by Creighton/Buckley establishes a statewide private school voucher program. Funding for the program is set by the Legislature for each biennium with $1 billion for the biennium beginning September 1, 2025. It passed the senate 19-12. TCTA opposed the bill. A vote FOR SB 2 is in opposition to TCTA’s position; a vote AGAINST SB 2 is in support of TCTA’s position.
  • Vote No. 2 — HB 8 (3rd called session) by Buckley/Bettencourt replaces the STAAR test with three shorter exams starting with the 2027-28 school year. Also, it requires a higher education institution to study potential new accountability indicators beyond test scores. Sen. Bettencourt offered an amendment to add U.S. History and 8th grade social studies end of course exams after the House removed them and to remove educator quality and school climate from the performance indicators' study. The amendment passed 21-5. TCTA's positions are in opposition to the amendment. TCTA advocated for limiting tested subjects and including meaningful locally driven indicators rather than punitive measures. A vote FOR the amendment is in opposition to TCTA’s position; a vote AGAINST the amendment is in support of TCTA’s position.
  • Vote No. 3 — SB 2330 by Parker would have prohibited payroll deduction of membership dues for certain organizations representing state and local government employees, such as TCTA, undermining the ability of many dedicated public servants to participate in a professional organization. It passed the senate 19-12 but was not considered by the house. TCTA opposed the bill. A vote FOR SB 2330 is in opposition to TCTA’s position; a vote AGAINST SB 2330 is in support of TCTA’s position.

Sen. Judith Zaffirini (incumbent)
Democrat
Position sought: Senator, District 21

Education group support

Record on Key Senate Votes in 2021

Vote 1Vote 2Vote 3Vote 4
Yes Vote
For TCTA position
Yes Vote
For TCTA position
Yes Vote
For TCTA position
No Vote
Against TCTA position

The following were some of the key bills and amendments of interest to educators during the 2021 regular session.

  • Vote No. 1 — HB 1525 by Huberty/Taylor makes revisions and corrections to the major school finance bill of 2019. Sen. Lucio offered a TCTA-proposed amendment to protect teacher pay raises, so that districts must pay an employee compensation at least equal to what the employee received for the 2019-20 school year. The amendment failed 14-17. TCTA supported the amendment. A vote FOR the amendment is in support of TCTA’s position; a vote against the amendment is in opposition to TCTA’s position.
  • Vote No. 2 — SB 1716 by Taylor/Bonnen, as it was proposed in the Senate, included language that essentially created a special education voucher program (it was later amended in the House to remove the problematic language). It passed the Senate 21-9. TCTA opposed the bill. A vote FOR SB 1716 is in opposition to TCTA’s position; a vote AGAINST SB 1716 is in support of TCTA’s position.
  • Vote No. 3 — HB 3979 by Toth/Creighton was the first of two bills designed to address concerns about public schools teaching “critical race theory.” Though the issue was highly politicized, TCTA’s opposition to the bill was based on concerns about potential legal issues for teachers, not on politics. The bill passed the Senate 18-13. TCTA opposed the bill. A vote FOR HB 3979 is in opposition to TCTA’s position; a vote AGAINST HB 3979 is in support of TCTA’s position.
  • Vote No. 4 — SB 487 by Hughes/Deshotel would have limited the ability of local officials to respond to community concerns about new charter schools in the area. The bill passed the Senate 22-8. TCTA opposed the bill. A vote FOR SB 487 is in opposition to TCTA’s position; a vote AGAINST SB 487 is in support of TCTA’s position.

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