Ray Lopez*

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Survey Responses

HAS NOT RESPONDED TO THE 2024 CANDIDATE SURVEY.

BELOW ARE THE CANDIDATE'S RESPONSES TO THE 2022 ATPE CANDIDATE SURVEY:

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

One priority of mine is to enhance the profession to allow recruiting and retention throughout the ranks. Another priority would be to offer attractive benefits and salary packages for educators.

2. What are your recommendations for funding public education, including securing the necessary revenue to sustain the improvements made by House Bill 3 in 2019? Do you believe additional funding is needed?

Yes, and I recommend that we fund public education by tapping the existing state funding resources, then consider other revenue sources.

3. How would you address the challenge of rising health care costs facing Texas educators and ensure that active and retired educators have access to affordable health care?

I would address the challenge of rising health care costs by insisting that the governor accept federal funding for insurance. Current Texas leadership doesn't want to accept current medicaid funds.

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?

I do not support forcing educators to move from one plan to another. It should be the educator's decision if they would like to convert to a defined contribution plan like a 401(k) plan.

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

Absolutely not. The students' performance is not an indication of the performance of the teacher. It is an indicator of that student's environment and other factors affecting their academic performance.

6. 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?

No.

7. State law allows educators and other public employees to voluntarily choose to join professional associations such as ATPE and have membership dues deducted from their paychecks at no cost to taxpayers. Do you support or oppose letting all public employees continue to exercise this right?

Yes, I support letting all public employees to continue exercising this right.

8. What role, if any, should charter schools have in the public education system, and do you feel the number of charter schools operating in Texas should be reduced or expanded?

The number of charter schools operating in Texas should be expanded, especially to fill the gap of specialty or niche of specialized track education.. The oversight to charter schools should mirror the same as public schools.

9. How much freedom should school districts have to make decisions during disease outbreaks, such as requiring face coverings and immunizations or transitioning to remote instruction?

School districts should not be prohibited from making decisions. In fact, I support local control at every level. It is the board's responsibility based on the individual circumstances the district is facing. In every case, they should manage situations by working closely with the students, parents, and faculty and staff.

10. What do you believe is the proper role of virtual education within the public education system? Do you believe full-time virtual education should be expanded, and if so, under what circumstances?

Virtual education cannot compare in its effectiveness to in-person learning. It can work, but we haven't figured out a way to standardize virtual learning. There is no process figured out yet, but all students learn differently and all teachers teach differently.

11. What do you feel should be the state’s role (versus the role of school districts or individual educators) in decisions about public school curriculum and instructional materials?

The state should not be prescribing specifics on how to teach or what material to teach. The state should collaborate with the professionals and set up whatever standards are agreed to.

12. The COVID-19 pandemic and additional instructional support needed to remediate students’ learning losses have placed additional strain on public schools’ staffing needs. How would you work to ensure classrooms are appropriately staffed, teachers’ workloads are manageable, and planning time is not sacrificed amid these challenges?

One of the most effective things we could do now is change the limitations of what our retired Texas teachers are allowed to do. We should allow retired educators to return to the classroom to support current educators and class populations. The retention of teachers is at an astronomical low. Many retired teachers can't come back because they've exhausted their hours on retirement.