Texas AFT

What Texas AFT does

Texas AFT (legally Texas American Federation of Teachers) is a nonprofit labor union founded in 1974 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, that represents public school educators and education professionals across Texas from pre-K through post-doctoral institutions. The organization operates as the Texas state federation of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and is affiliated with the AFL-CIO, embedding it in the broader U.S. labor movement and giving it access to national organizing, legal, and political infrastructure serving more than 1.7 million AFT members. Its customer base comprises teachers, counselors, librarians, support staff, and other public education professionals working in Texas school districts and institutions.

Texas AFT's core offerings center on collective bargaining representation, legislative and political advocacy, member benefits, and professional development through the Bridges Institute. Member-facing products include the main advocacy website at texasaft.org, the Education Newsfeed blog, the weekly Hotline Newsletter distributed via Action Network, a Member Resources portal, the Associate Membership Program (AMP) for non-bargaining-unit education professionals, and the Texas AFT COPE political action committee. The organization also operates a merchandise webstore at store.texasaft.org, fulfilled by Austin-based union printshop Bright Blue Ink, selling union-branded apparel and goods to support COPE fundraising.

The business model is funded primarily through recurring membership dues collected via payroll deduction from public school employees, supplemented by voluntary contributions to COPE and merchandise sales. Texas AFT operates through a federated structure of local union chapters across Texas school districts, with 51-100 staff at the state level. The organization is member-governed, has no external investors or venture capital, and does not disclose revenue. Texas AFT has positioned itself as an "aggressive" advocate on educator pay, benefits, workplace protections, and public school funding, and recently escalated this stance through a free-speech lawsuit against the Texas Education Agency over educator social media investigations.

Name

Texas AFT

Legal name

Texas American Federation of Teachers

Website

https://texasaft.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Texas AFT is a nonprofit state-level teachers' union representing Texas public school educators from pre-K through post-doctoral institutions. It is the Texas affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers and AFL-CIO, funded by membership dues, COPE contributions, and merchandise sales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Labor Union / Educator Advocacy

NAICS

Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations (8139)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Apprenticeships, Internships & Work-Based Learning Programs (BPACANAK)

Keywords

• Teacher labor union
• Public education advocacy
• Collective bargaining
• Educator representation
• Professional association

Headquarters

HQ city

Austin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Public school employees pay membership dues to join Texas AFT and their local unions, which fund union operations and advocacy activities.
2. Political Contributions (COPE): Public school employees make voluntary contributions to Texas AFT's Committee on Political Education (COPE) to support the election of pro-public school candidates.
3. Merchandise Sales: Texas AFT sells branded merchandise including apparel, buttons, stickers, tote bags, and yard signs through its online webstore to raise funds and promote union solidarity.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Texas AFT is a labor union that represents Texas public school educators, providing collective bargaining representation, workplace protections, professional development, legislative advocacy, and political engagement through its Committee on Political Education (COPE). Membership is funded by recurring dues collected via payroll deduction, with an Associate Membership Program available to education professionals who do not qualify for full membership. The organization also operates an online merchandise webstore selling union-branded apparel and goods.

Product overview

Texas AFT is a teachers' union offering a unified membership platform for educators. The core offerings include the main advocacy website (texasaft.org) with member resources and legislative priorities, a political action committee (COPE) for electoral engagement, an online merchandise webstore, the Education Newsfeed blog, and the Associate Membership Program for expanded participation. Member resources include professional development through the Bridges Institute and workplace protections.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Texas AFT COPE: Committee on Political Education - the organization's political action committee that allows public school employees to build political power and elect pro-public school candidates.
• Hotline Newsletter

Products and services

• Texas AFT Union Membership

Quantifiable outcome

• Advocacy resulting in legislative victories and improved working conditions

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• American Federation of Teachers (AFT)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTexas AFT is the Texas state affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers. This affiliation provides access to national organizing resources, legal support, political infrastructure, and solidarity with teachers across the country. The AFT represents over 1.7 million members in education and healthcare.
• AFL-CIOcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTexas AFT is affiliated with the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labor unions in the United States. This affiliation connects Texas educators to the broader American labor movement.
• Bright Blue InkminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerBright Blue Ink is a union printshop based in Austin, Texas that administers the Texas AFT Committee on Political Education Webstore. They handle printing, order fulfillment, and shipping of merchandise.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Texas State Teachers Association: The other major teacher union in Texas, affiliated with the NEA. Directly competes with Texas AFT for Texas teacher members and provides substantially the same collective bargaining, advocacy, and professional development services in the same geography.
• Chicago Teachers Union: AFT-affiliated local teacher union representing Chicago Public Schools educators. Mirrors the structure and services Texas AFT provides through its local affiliates, including collective bargaining, political action, and member advocacy.

Broad incumbents

• American Federation of Teachers: National parent federation of which Texas AFT is a state affiliate. Represents over 1.7 million members across education and healthcare nationally and provides the legal, organizing, and political infrastructure that Texas AFT draws on.
• National Education Association: Largest US teacher union (3M+ members) and parent of competing Texas State Teachers Association. Operates as the NEA-affiliated counterpart to AFT, directly competing with AFT/Texas AFT for teacher members nationwide.
• AFL-CIO: Largest federation of labor unions in the United States, of which Texas AFT is an affiliate. Coordinates cross-union political action and represents the broader American labor movement beyond just the education sector.

Regional players

• California Teachers Association: Large NEA-affiliated state teacher union in California with comparable organizational scale, services (collective bargaining, advocacy, professional development), and operating model — though focused on California rather than Texas public education.
• New York State United Teachers: Large state teacher union in New York representing pre-K through graduate school educators. Structurally analogous to Texas AFT as a state federation and offers the same mix of collective bargaining, advocacy, and member benefits.
• Texas AFL-CIO: State-level labor federation in Texas, of which Texas AFT is also an affiliate. Coordinates broader labor movement activities in Texas beyond just education and serves as a sibling organization in the same state labor ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/texasaft
• Instagraminstagram.com/texasaft
• Xx.com/TexasAFT
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/texasaft

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Texas AFT