Melina Espiritu-Azocar, president of the Northside AFT, stressed the student walkouts are solely student-led, not organized by educators.
SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio school districts and teachers unions are now sharing their perspective in response to new guidance released by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) on student walkouts.
The guidance aligns with Gov. Greg Abbott’s directive to investigate “inappropriate political activism” that’s disruptive to the learning environment in Texas public schools.
Student walkouts have recently taken place across Texas, including San Antonio, with hundreds of students protesting immigration enforcement and actions by the federal government.
“It is not surprising to see the governor continues to violate the First Amendment rights of educators and now students,” said Melina Espiritu-Azocar, president of the Northside American Federation of Teachers.
School districts and teachers who facilitate or organize student walkouts could face penalties. According to the TEA, teachers suspected of organizing such events may be investigated and risk losing their teaching licenses. Districts could also face repercussions, including the potential loss of state funding or state intervention in governance. The TEA noted students must be marked absent, which means losing daily attendance funding.
“It is a false narrative to assume that teachers are somehow organizing this,” Espiritu-Azocar said. “The students are brave, they are capable, and they are the ones that are organizing these walkouts because they want to express themselves.”
It was early January when the Texas American Federation of Teachers sued the TEA in federal court, alleging violations of educators’ First Amendment rights. This action followed state-ordered investigations into more than 350 teachers accused of making what Education Commissioner Mike Morath called “reprehensible” comments on personal social media accounts about assassinated conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
Tom Cummins, president of the South San and North East AFTs said he believes the state’s involvement is excessive.
“Our concern is this is just micromanaging from the governor’s mansion,” Cummins said.
Cummins added that union leadership advised teachers not to interfere with the student-led walkouts.
“We did get several calls, numerous calls saying, ‘What should we do?’ and our answer was don’t do anything. We should not be influencing one way or another,” Cummins said.
A Northside ISD spokesman confirmed it is following TEA guidance and emphasized that the district does not endorse or promote student walkouts. District officials said students who participate are marked absent and may face additional disciplinary consequences in accordance with district policy and state rules.
San Antonio ISD Superintendent Jaime Aquino also addressed the issue in a letter to staff, encouraging employees to review the state-issued guidance. The letter states the district remains in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.
The letter states in part: “While we recognize that there are broader conversations occurring in the public sphere, our focus in the classroom remains on instruction aligned to the approved curriculum. The Texas Education Agency has issued guidance regarding student walkouts, absences, and actions related to political activism.”
North East ISD referred KENS 5 to a social media post where the district said while they support “students’ rights to express their individual views, our highest priorities are to maintain students’ safety on campus and preserve a rich learning environment accessible to all of our students.” Students who take part in walkouts will be marked truant and those who cause disruption to the learnings of others or cause physical danger will receive “disciplinary consequences ranging from detention or in-school suspension to out-of-school suspension or recommendation to an alternative educational setting.”
To learn more about the TEA guidelines on student walkouts, follow this link – https://tea.texas.gov/about-tea/news-and-multimedia/correspondence/taa-letters/district-attendance-policies-complaints-and-educator-responsibilities