Mary Gonzalez

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Survey Responses

HAS NOT RESPONDED TO THE 2026 ATPE CANDIDATE SURVEY.

Did not reply to the 2024 or 2022 candidate survey. Was unopposed in the 2020 election.
 

Below are the candidate's responses to the 2016 ATPE Candidate Survey:

1.If elected, what will your top priorities for public education be?

If elected, I will continue to fight to address systemic inequities in our public education system. These include a public school finance system that equitably supports our local classrooms, with critical updates to outdated weights for special education, bilingual education, and the basic allotment.

Additionally, my priorities include reducing the costs of educators through increased state contributions, providing teachers a much-needed salary increase for their service, and protecting the integrity of the Teacher Retirement System's defined-benefit pension plan.

2. Is there a need to increase state funding to meet the needs of our student population? If so, how would you recommend securing more revenue for public education?

There is an absolute need to increase state funding. Our state's public school finance system, with its outdated formulas and inadequate support, has been dubbed "byzantine" by the Texas Supreme Court. Such a system cannot hope to prepare our children to compete and move our state forward in the Twenty-First Century.

The state cannot provide a meaningful increase to state funding for public education purely through bandages applied to the system ad-hoc each legislative session. The Legislature must, by updating deeply outdated weights and measures and basic allotment formulas, foundationally commit more general revenue to be dedicated to public school financing permanently.  As well, address facilities funding inequity. Only with a permanent, immediate increase in state funding can our critical needs be adequately addressed.

3. Healthcare costs for educators have increased dramatically and outpaced the state's contributions, with many current and retired educators now paying more out of pocket than their counterparts in other states or in other professions. As a legislator, how would you address this crisis to ensure that active and retired educators have access to affordable healthcare? 

When TRS-Care and its ActiveCare component were established, they were created with the promise that the state would provide both our active educators and retirees with a reliable, affordable healthcare benefit in recognition for the service they provide for our community and families.

The Legislature has failed to update the state's contribution to educators' healthcare premiums, leaving both active teachers and retirees with burdensome out-of-pocket expenses. I will continue to work to find a permanent, long-term funding solution to healthcare costs through updating statutory contribution amounts from the state to levels they were originally intended, immediately reducing the burden on our teachers.

4. Do you believe the Teacher Retirement System (TRS) should be maintained as a traditional defined benefit pension plan for all future, current, and retired educators, or do you support converting TRS to a defined contribution plan that is more like a 401(k) plan, in which future benefits are not guaranteed?

TRS is an actuarially sound pension fund, with a strong financial portfolio and funding ratio borne of prudent investment practices by the state. Its health is a testament to the effectiveness of well-managed pension funds to continue to build their worth, while providing annuities to their retirees.

The state has made a social compact with our educators to provide a safe, reliable source of income in their retirement after decades of service to our communities. A defined benefit pension system is the best way to deliver on this promise. I oppose converting TRS to a defined contribution, 401(k)-style plan.

 

5. What do you feel is the proper role of standardized testing in Texas's public education system? For instance, should student test scores be used for school accountability purposes, for evaluating teachers, for measuring student progress, etc.?

For too long, the state's efforts to increase accountability and effectiveness focused unhealthily on standardized testing. While testing can be one of several useful tools for gauging student academic progress, Texas relied on tests to measure educators and hold schools accountable to such an extent that learning itself was impeded and our teachers were being prevented from doing what they do best- educating our children.

In recent sessions, the state has made progress in reducing standardized testing. I support a continued reduction to standardized testing, so that it is used as simply part of a more holistic, accurate, and fair accountability system.

 

6. Would you support a state-funded across-the-board pay raise for all Texas classroom teachers?

Our educators are on the front lines, working to shape the young minds that will lead Texas in the decades to come. Their value simply cannot be understated. I support a state-funded, across-the-board pay raise for all Texas classroom teachers.

 

7. To what extent should student performance determine teacher pay?

 Students learn at different rates, and student populations are unique from community to community. As our state's student population continues to grow and diversify, educators will necessarily have to structure their teaching to accommodate multiple backgrounds, accommodations, and learning needs. Given this fact, I do not believe that individual student performance should be a deciding factor in determining teacher pay.

 

8. Would you vote to create any type of voucher, tax credit, scholarship, education savings account, or other program aimed at paying for students, including any subpopulation of students, to attend non-public K-12 schools, such as private or home schools?

I absolutely oppose voucher, tax credit, "scholarship," education savings account programs in their entirety. They do nothing to improve public education equity, and deprive our public schools of funding.

 

9. State law allows educators and other public employees to voluntarily choose to join professional associations like ATPE and have membership dues deducted from their paychecks at no cost to taxpayers. Do you support or oppose letting all public employees use payroll deduction for their membership dues?

Voluntary payroll deduction is a safe and effective way for educators to pay their dues if they join a professional association. I absolutely support preserving voluntary payroll deductions, and oppose efforts to remove it as an option for teachers.

10. Current law allows school districts with accountability ratings of "C" or better to become Districts of Innovation (DOIs) and exempt themselves from many state statutes, such as elementary school class-size limits, requirements for hiring certified teachers, and more. Would you recommend any changes to the criteria for becoming a DOI? Would you place any limitations on the state laws that can be waived by DOIs?

State regulations on class sizes, educator hiring practices, and fundamental classroom standards are designed to provide the safest, most effective learning environment possible for our growing, diverse student population. DOI models risk undermining fundamental standards of the teaching profession. I fundamentally oppose waiving state laws for DOIs.