Pete Flores

Voting Records:

Survey Responses

Did not respond to the 2022, 2020, or 2018 ATPE Candidate Survey.

Below are his responses to ATPE's 2016 Candidate Survey.

1. Is there a need to increase funding in order to meet the needs of our growing student population and ensure that students have access to high-quality teachers? If so, how would you recommend securing more revenue for public education?

I would not support increasing funding until a thorough vetting of the spending of current funds is done. I support having quality teachers that are compensated at fair market value and support funding when the spending priorities are for the core programs and core staff. When it can be demonstrated that the funding is directed to the programs and teachers and not the Administration or Special Projects, and doesn't meet the needs of the children and their teachers, then we could reevaluate the position within the States overall budget structure.

2. On what types of programs or specific areas of need would you prioritize the spending of state funds for public education?

Core subject matter such as Mathematics, Reading, Writing, history, geography, languages ( Spanish, Mandarin ), Computer Science including coding and Technical classes ( welding, mechanics, shop ) Pre K should be available to all age eligible children.

3. Would you vote to create a voucher, tax credit, grant, scholarship program, or any other type of incentive that would help cover the cost for students to attend non-public schools in grades K-12? Why or why not?

Yes, I believe that a parent should have the right to choose an alternative school if available.

4. 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 a number of them routinely take.)

Administrators obtain the waivers for a number of reasons among them, a growing student population combined with a declining budget and shortages of teachers. A waiver to address a current condition may become a standard condition when no corrective action is taken to meet the State cap. School Board and Administration action should be formulated and directed to provide policy and solutions to correct this issue, that is their function. Should the issue come up at the next legislative session as the act that required this was passed in 2001, due consideration will be given to the subject matter experts, parents and teachers to address this in the 2017 Legislative session. At this juncture, I would vote to maintain the current statute as is.

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

A baseline of Texas educational expectations is reasonable . The role of a test should be to demonstrate the knowledge of a subject matter and it can be used as a tool to determine what the student knows at the beginning of a course and what the student has learned at the end of the course. This measure can be compared with a baseline expectation to evaluate the effectiveness of instruction and of the schools curriculum. Standardized testing does prevent social promotion through the grades. What I remembered from school was to learn the subject matter from the teacher , getting quizzed and knowing that I was required to demonstrate my subject matter expertise through a test or an essay. I learned from a teacher to master the subject, not from a test at the expense of a lesson .

6. Local decisions on teacher pay and whether to continue a teacher's employment 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?

A teachers evaluation must be based on a number of factors all of which must determine the overall quality of instruction and a reflection of the teachers effectiveness in improving the knowledge of the student through the course of study. Many mitigating circumstances affect the effectiveness of solely relying on the standardized test such as remedial classes, ESL, ect.. Successful completion of a course as approved by the board of education by the students is what a teacher would desire of their students but caution should be taken to not punish a teacher for a students or a students parents lack of interest in education and standardized testing.

7. Do you believe that the state should maintain a floor for classroom teacher salaries that includes annual increases based on experience over the first 20 years of a teacher's career?

In the Agency that I worked for over 27 years, we operated in a salary step program where an employee went from one step to another when years of service were completed e.g. ( step 1 - 2 years ), but the pay increase and the step however , were not totally based on tenure but had a performance component as well. The employee's latest performance review at the time of the step, must be satisfactory in order to get the step increase in pay. An unsatisfactory performer would be denied the step until the employee improved. I would support increases if they were based on experience with satisfactory performance. We should only pay for good experience, not just experience.

8. If a public school in your district failed to meet state accountability standards, what course of action would you recommend? Are there circumstances in which you would support allowing a private entity to take over the management of that school (for instance, by converting it to a charter school, placing it under a special statewide district for low-performing schools, replacing the elected school board, or hiring an outside entity to operate the school)?

The school would be given ample opportunity under the direction of the TEA to correct deficiency, however if after the course of corrective action it was determined that the school was unable or unwilling to remediate, then the Governing board would be held accountable, and if complicity by the Governing board is found then the dissolution of the board would be in order and an outside entity with TEA oversight would assume the operation of the school and along with the administration and staff, take the appropriate action to bring the school into compliance. Once in compliance, the TEA and the outside entity would return the school back to local control. The new board will provide governance and leadership to ensure that the schools and district are in compliance with current regulations and legal requirements.