Mary Ann Perez

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Survey Responses

HAS NOT RESPONDED TO THE 2026 ATPE CANDIDATE SURVEY.


Candidate did not respond to the 2024, 2020, 2018, or 2016 ATPE Candidate Survey. 

Not applicable for 2022; the candidate was unopposed.


Below are the candidate's responses to the 2014 ATPE Candidate Survey:

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

Absolutely. There is 1.5 billion dollars in cuts that still need to be restored and it would be beneficial to continue allocating more funds as public education can use as much financial support as possible. We could use money from the rainy day fund.

 

2. Regardless of the level of funding, do you believe that Texas public education dollars are being spent in an appropriate manner, or should the funds be reallocated and spent in different ways?

Funds should be targeted to the classroom and the state should give more discretion to the local districts, especially to allow them to match their curricula to the workforce needs of their area.

 

3. Would you vote to spend public tax dollars on a voucher, tax credit or scholarship that allows students to attend non-public schools in grades K–12? Why or why not?

No. The use of public tax dollars for private educational institutions is unfair and irresponsible for communities that are less fortunate.

 

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 would you vote to convert TRS to a defined contribution plan that is more like a 401(k), in which future benefits are not guaranteed? Why?

Teachers make invaluable contributions to our children and should be treated as such. Not guaranteeing financial security from future benefits will not help to recruit the best talents to our schools.

 

5. Local decisions on whether to continue a teacher's employment and how much to pay each teacher are often based on evaluations. To what extent, if any, should a teacher's evaluation be based on his students' scores on state standardized tests? If you believe student test scores should factor into a teacher's evaluation, how would you recommend evaluating teachers in grades or subjects for which there are no state standardized tests?

Standardized testing does not provide a well-rounded judgement of a teacher's effectiveness. Evaluations should use a number of metrics, including qualitative as well as quantitative assessments.

 

6. Would you vote to maintain a hard cap on the number of students per class, or should school administrators be given more flexibility to increase class sizes? (Currently, the law imposes a cap of 22:1 in grades K–4 but allows schools to obtain a waiver, a step many of them routinely take.)

I believe children benefit from small class sizes, but school districts are not afforded the same resources as others, with that in mind, I would continue to support a hard cap — but realize waivers will be given — while we work towards solving our school funding problem.

 

7. If a public school in your district failed to meet state accountability standards for two or more consecutive years, would you support allowing a private entity to take over the management of that school, essentially converting it to a charter school?

Before bringing in a private entity I would favor using existing entities within the school district to tackle the problem.

 

8. Do you believe charter schools in Texas have been largely successful? Should their presence be expanded? Why or why not?

Charter schools in Texas have a mixed record — some good, some not so good. My priorities will be to help our public schools first, but if charter schools are expanded they should be closely monitored to ensure their students are receiving a quality education.