ATPE Summit

The Judy Coyle Texas Liberty Award is named after one of ATPE’s founding members, Judy Coyle, a long-time educator who worked daily to better the Texas public education system. ATPE’s highest honor is presented to those who truly go above and beyond to advance public education in Texas. Previous award recipients have included education leaders, education advocates, and elected officials—including former Texas House Speaker Joe Straus.

For many ATPE members, Coyle’s lifetime dedication to serving public schools is representative of ATPE’s pro-public education values, and when it came time to name the 2021 recipient, the ATPE Board of Directors unanimously agreed no one was more deserving than the collective body of Texas public school employees for their work during the 2020-21 school year. “Texas’ public school employees have gone above and beyond for our schools and our students during the last year, from adapting to the many, many challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic to weathering the hardships brought about by the winter storm of 2021,” said 2020-21 ATPE State President Jimmy Lee. “In 2021, ATPE could think of no one individual who has done more for public education than our public school employees did collectively over the past year, and it is our honor to share this with them.”

Please visit bit.ly/JudyCoyleAward to watch a short video about the 2021 Judy Coyle Texas Liberty Award selection process.

Presented by the Association of Texas Professional Educators on the fifteenth day of July, two thousand twenty-one

For their unparalleled dedication and commitment to the students of Texas during the many challenges of the 2020-21 school year

Shannon J. Holmes, Ed.D Executive Director Jimmy Lee 2020-21 ATPE State President

Association of Texas Professional Educators 305 E. Huntland Dr., Ste. 300 Austin, TX 78752-3792