Elizabeth Lotterhos

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Survey Responses

RESPONSES TO THE 2026 ATPE CANDIDATE SURVEY:

1. If elected, what are your top priorities for Texas public education?

Please describe any specific goals or legislative initiatives you would pursue to strengthen the state’s public education system.

Smaller class sizes. We are going to have to hire more teachers. In order to do that we need to make being a teacher in Texas a great job again by raising pay, getting rid of teaching from a script, getting rid of STARR, and having stricter rules/ education alternatives for violent students and students who do not thrive in a traditional classroom setting. It should be easier for kids 16+ to get their GED.

2. Public Education Funding:

The 89th Legislature passed an $8 billion school funding bill, HB 2. However, despite years of unanswered “inflationary challenges, a large majority of that funding was earmarked to specific programs and did not supply districts with significant flexible funding, leaving the majority of Texas students in districts with deficit budgets and other significant funding challenges. Do you believe Texas public schools should receive additional funding? If so, how should the state pay for it, and should that funding be earmarked at the state level or provide districts with flexible dollars?

They absolutely need more funding. I think we should get rid of the school property tax and merge it with the general property tax. I do not agree with different school districts receiving different amounts of money based on the nearby property values. It should be equally dispersed from the state. Also, large corporations should be paying their fair share in property taxes. I believe that the district should be paid equally per child based primarily on state and federal money, and that there should be a state fund earmarked for building and repairing infrastructure. We should come up with a standard for all Texas schools, assess all of the schools, and prioritize the ones that need the most help.

3. ESA Vouchers:

Education savings accounts (ESAs) redirect public funds to private or home schools. How do you believe Texas should fund public schools, traditional and charter, alongside ESA vouchers? How should ESA spending be held accountable to taxpayers?

First of all, I'm still on the fence about charter schools. Are they really necessary? I'm leaning towards no. Let's assume we can't get rid of the voucher program. The amount per student that a family gets per year should be far less than the amount a public school district gets per student. Home school students should get a very small amount. All ESA payments should be paid directly to the school.

4. Teacher Recruitment and Retention:

Under HB 2, passed in 2025, all educators in core content courses (math, English, science, and social studies) must be certified by 2030. While this is a good start, more can and should be done to ensure high-quality teachers continue to enter the classroom. What are your suggestions to improve the quality of the new teacher pipeline?

Make being a teacher in Texas an important and well respected job. Teachers need to be uplifted as important leaders of society again. Not just babysitters. Make sure they are well paid, surrounded by support staff, feel safe, given great benefits, and are allowed to teach with their own creativity and passion.

5. Educator Pay and Benefits:

The 89th Legislature passed legislation creating a new mechanism to provide only classroom teachers with tiered raises based on early years of service and their district’s student enrollment. While the raises were significant, they did not apply to all campus educators, and the program created a significant negative funding stream at the district level due to unfunded increased costs for non-salary compensation tied to payroll, such as TRS retirement contributions. Do you support a state-funded across-the-board pay raise for all Texas educators? How would you ensure that compensation keeps pace with inflation and remains competitive with other professions?

Yes. I support a state-funded pay raise for everyone working in our public school system. Yes the teacher is the most important job, but they cannot succeed without support staff. The support staff are all very important and deserve a livable wage with benefits.

6. Educator Health Care:

The high cost of health insurance for active and retired educators continues to reduce take-home pay, with educators shouldering the vast majority of their ever-increasing heath care costs. How would you address the affordability and sustainability of educator health care, particularly the TRS-ActiveCare and TRS-Care programs?

Are these programs even working? It is my understanding that TRS pays a for-profit insurance company to do the actual insuring, so educators and education employers are currently having to cover the increase. In the short term we just need a big pay raise across the board. In the long term we need to create a not-for-profit state run insurance program that completely cuts out the for-profit companies. Bottom line, teachers and retired teachers should have an affordable health insurance plan.

7. Retirement Security:

Do you believe the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) should remain a defined-benefit pension plan for all current and future members? If not, what is your plan to provide a secure retirement for Texas educators, particularly considering that state law has been set up such that most districts do not participate in Social Security?

Yes. It should be protected as a defined-benefit pension plan.

8. Accountability and Assessment Reform:

The Legislature has passed a new “through-year” multi-test model under HB 8. What role should standardized testing play in evaluating students, teachers, and schools? Should test results continue to determine A–F accountability ratings or teacher pay?

We have to get rid of standardized testing! These test results should not be used to determine ratings or teacher pay.

9. Parental Rights and Community Voice:

Recent legislative debates have focused on “parental rights” in education. In your view, what is the appropriate balance between accommodating the often conflicting wishes of individual parents while maintaining policies that reflect the broader community’s educational priorities and still providing consistency and an appropriate level of professional deference to educators?

This "parental rights" thing has gone way too far. The public school is a community resource that is there to serve all the people regardless of race, gender, sexual preference, or religion. Parents can have the ability to opt their students out of certain activities, but they have no right to ban anything from everyone else. If they don't want their kid to be in a learning environment that teaches inclusivity and facts, then they can homeschool or pay for a private school.

10. School Safety:

HB 3 (2023) imposed new school safety requirements but did not fully fund them. Although the 89th Legislature increased the School Safety Allotment, many districts continue to face substantial unfunded staffing and facility costs associated with school safety laws. How would you make schools safer and ensure the state provides adequate funding to meet safety mandates?

First of all, we need to be tougher on violent students. If they attack anyone at the school, they should be suspended based on a predefined discipline schedule. If a student does not follow the rules and is putting everyone in danger, then they should not be welcomed back. They can choose homeschool or getting their GED at 16+. This can expand into the state doing more for mental health care, but this should not be put on the public school. Second, school safety should be a state job not a school district job. School police officer should be a well trained, paid, and benefited state job. I do think there is a benefit to having schools gated with controlled points of entry. Also, we need stricter gun laws.

11. Curriculum and Local Control:

What do you believe is the proper role of the State Board of Education, the Texas Education Agency, and local school districts in setting curriculum standards and selecting instructional materials?

The Board sets the standards for curriculum and infrastructure. The Agency makes it happen. The District Boards should act as the liaison between the Agency and Board and each individual school.  All should be working together to make sure all standards are being met.

12. Educator Rights and Professional Associations:

State law allows educators and other public employees to voluntarily join professional associations such as ATPE and have membership dues deducted from their paychecks at no cost to taxpayers. Do you support or oppose allowing public employees to continue exercising this right? Why or why not?

I support this. It is important to have groups that connect workers and provide support and protection.