Analysis Of Texas Classroom Teachers Association (TCTA) As An Interest Group

Interest groups are organizations established to influence the government’s programs and policies. There are lots of different variety of interest groups. Each of these interest groups focus on different subjects at national, state, and local levels of politics. I am going to focus on the Texas Classroom Teachers Association (TCTA), which is a business interest group.

TCTA was created in 1927 to protect the rights of public- school teachers, librarians, counselors, and teachers’ aides. TCTA is the only group of its kind in Texas. The TCTA have many benefits to offers its members. One of the biggest things I feel it offers is the access to 9 different licensed and experienced attorneys in case they may run into any legal issues. They are also available to answer any questions these student educators may have. If they feel they are being treated unfairly they can go to these lawyers and know that it will be kept confidential. The disadvantage of not being a part of the TCTA is not having protection. A principal can come into school one morning after a bad night and you all can exchange words that get out of hand. If you are a part of the TCTA, you can always ask a lawyer to question if they have a right to say the things they said to you. Maybe they took an action against you that you thought was harsh. You would be protected and have someone to speak to!

Another perk of being a member of this interest group is that they offer discount programs and free online continuing professional education. This is something every teacher will love since this is a requirement to retain their teaching license. To keep members in this group the TCTA keeps the dues affordable. They are able to do this by being independent and Texas only professional association. This keeps the due dollars within the group and not having to support a national union. The TCTA represents teacher issues at a state and federal level. They have a lobbying team who consistently initiates more successful pro-teacher legislation than any other teacher group. To me this means that they actually take their job serious and care about the members of this group.

The group also has a political action committee (PAC), called ACT. ACTs job is to further the interests of public education through the political involvement of teachers. ACT is currently funded through voluntary donations made by TCTA members. By participating in ACT TCTA benefits by increasing their visibility with candidates and elected officials. It also provides a chance for them to develop a working relationship with candidates and to share their ideas, concerns, and perspectives on education related issues. I feel the TCTA has been very successful in being the voice for the public educators. According to a recent survey of TCTA members 99 percent of respondents rated the quality of service as excellent or average. This is a huge percentage! If I was an educator I would definitely be a part of this group as well as encourage my fellow teachers to do the same."

Contributions to politicians are an essential part of their campaign processes. One politician I will focus on is George P. Bush, who is the current Texas Land Commissioner. In Bush’s early career he worked as a public-school teacher. I feel this is an important key to his current responsibilities. As the commissioner Bush works to empower parents to choose the best schools for their children. He has protected the assets of school children by filing a lawsuit against the BLM’s illegal federal land grab. One important contributor to George P. Bush is Mr. Syed Javaid Anwar. On 6/30/2017 he contributed $25,000. Anwar is the Owner/ President of Petroplex Energy Inc. in Midland, TX. Mr. Anwar is also the Director of Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and has been since April 2015.

The main reasons I feel Mr. Anwar donates money to Bush is because Bush overseas investments that earn billions of dollars for public education and manages state lands to produce oil and gas that is helping make America energy-independent. With Mr. Anwar being in charge of an oil company having someone who manages the land to produce oil and gas is very important. I also feel with Bush protecting school assets Anwar and him can see eye to eye on the school issues as well. With Bush having background as a public-school system I feel he understands what is needed for the school system and how it is ran.