A History of Nationwide Relationships and Statewide Contributions

In 1979, the TRTA Executive Board authorized the establishment of a central office in Austin and began to organize the state of Texas into twenty (20) districts. The NRTA continued to provide guidance and assistance to districts and local chapters through NRTA assistant state directors. The organization of the TRTA districts became increasingly necessary when it became apparent that merging with the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) was the only option NRTA had to solve its financial problems, which resulted from building and maintaining a large retirement complex for retired teachers in California. After the merger, TRTA districts and local chapters could not depend on as much help from NRTA. The organization of the twenty districts was completed in 1982, the year that NRTA merged with AARP to form AARP/NRTA. After the merger, the Texas local chapters began to look more directly to the TRTA districts for leadership and direction.