Terry Meza

Voting records currently not available. Please check back later.

Survey Responses

HAS NOT RESPONDED TO THE 2026 CANDIDATE SURVEY.

Did not respond to the 2024, 2022, or 2020 ATPE Candidate Survey.

Below are the candidate's responses to the 2018 ATPE Candidate Survey:

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

My top priorities for public education include helping our neighborhood schools by reducing the unfair standardized tests, meddlesome state regulations, and by increasing community involvement and local control. I support legislation restoring public education funding in Texas.

 

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?

The over $5 billion removed from public education funding in 2011 has yet to be restored. This means that our public schools are functioning at levels below 2011 funding as we enter the 2019 legislative session. Meanwhile, this does not take into account inflation and increased student enrollment. Without a Supreme Court ruling that our system of funding schools is unconstitutional, it is unlikely that the legislature will act on the issue, even though the state is not spending enough money on schools. Like many in the legislature, I would like to see the finance system improved. The legislature should examine the impact of a provision that has allocated money to school districts to help offset mandated property tax cuts. It should also examine the use of local property taxes to fund public education and its effects on educational quality and on Texas taxpayers. The legislature should heed the call to action. Texas should not settle for just "adequate".

 

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?

Texas teacher salaries continue to rank well below those in every other large, populous state, with an average salary roughly $6,300 below the national average. Almost half of Texas teachers have to take a second job to make ends meet. Half of all new teachers leave the profession within five years, and teacher turnover itself is extremely costly. Additionally, the cost of health insurance is eating away at any salary increases teacher now receive. The state contribution for teacher health insurance ($75 per month) has not increased one penny since the program was initiated in 2002, forcing employees and local districts to bear the burden of skyrocketing health care costs. I would work to insure that funding levels and structural changes do not deny healthcare for retired teachers. Working together with other legislators, I would advocate that public school employees be provided the same level of contribution and should be eligible for the same COLA/increase as other state employees and higher education employees.

 

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?

Retired teachers spent a career working long hours for lower pay than most professionals and their retirement fund is a well earned reward. In Texas, 90% of teachers do not have Social Security, making their teacher retirement check their only certain retirement income. The Pension Trust Fund of the Teachers Retirement System is a solid defined benefit plan, but in recent years, certain groups have coordinated attacks on defined benefit pension plans to encourage lawmakers to change these plans to defined contribution plans, which are more costly to deliver. Legislation has been proposed to eliminate state and local government defined benefit retirement plans and provide "hybrid" plans or only 401(k)-type retirement accounts. Switching to a defined contribution plan would require each individual to bear investment risks alone, removing the security provided to retirees by the Teacher Retirement Fund. I would oppose legislation that attempts to convert the teacher Retirement System Pension Trust Fund of TRS from a defined benefit to a hybrid plan or a defined contribution plan. In 2013, the legislature provided funds to give about two-thirds of all retired teachers a 3% cost of living increase, the only COLA for retired teachers since 2001. Teachers who most recently retired did not receive a COLA. I would support and work to enact legislation that provides a cost of living increase for all retirees.

 

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.?

I support and believe in the need for some standardized testing. Scores show that it is working in that more kids are going to college, more are trying, and we are closing the achievement gap. Plus, federal dollars require testing. Given the Pearson scandal with the state auditor's office and Rep. Aycock of the House Public Education Committee's desire to return control to local school districts, the next session will have to reconcile the state's concerns with the federal government's continued support for No Child Left Behind legislation. The reduction in the number of standardized tests is an improvement. I will be open to hearing educators' suggestions, and others, on how we can provide an appropriate level of accountability without an over-dependence on standard test results. To me, as teachers, we use a combination of activities to evaluate students' performance in our classrooms, not just exam scores. Could not the same concept of a combination of factors, in addition to the standardized tests scores, be used to evaluate our teachers and our schools?

 

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

Yes, I would support efforts to redirect the money allocated for incentive rewards based on test scores to an increase in teacher salaries across the board.

 

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

While I support some method of rewarding exceptional performance, there are several problems with incentive pay based on student performance on a single standardized test. The link between student scores and teacher performance is sure to be an issue in the next session. Assessments are critical tools to guide teachers in improving their lesson plans and framing their instruction to meet the needs of individual students. I support accountability. But standardized assessments are misused when teachers are fired, schools are closed and students are penalized based on a single set of scores. Excessive high stakes testing takes away valuable instructional time and narrows the curriculum, with the greatest impact on our most vulnerable students. Accountability will continue to be an issue in Texas.

 

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?

Not only do I commit to opposing efforts to provide state assistance for private education but I have a demonstrated track record of opposition to private school vouchers. Around 20 years ago, while I was serving on the LULAC Texas State Board, the State Director brought in a state representative from South Texas who advocated for vouchers on the grounds that minority students are trapped in under-performing schools. Swayed by the Hispanic Representative, the majority of the Board voted to support vouchers. Rene Lara and I took a resolution to the State General Assembly during the State Convention a month later and successfully overturned the vote of the State Board, instead LULAC Texas would oppose vouchers which undermine the funding of our public schools. Our effort was recognized in an article in the Fort Worth Star Telegram, and probably other state newspapers. My son was a LULAC Youth Leader around 15 years ago and invited then State Rep. Kent Grusendorf to a LULAC Youth Meeting. The students voiced their objections to vouchers and their concerns that his efforts in Public School Finance were actually jeopardizing funding of their schools. Together with my son, we led a Youth State Board Lobby Day so that legislators could have the opportunity to actually hear from students about the impact of their decisions. I was most impressed by then State Rep. Dora Olivo who listened attentively and then told the students that she supported their platform, and then asked the students to support hers, taking time with them to explain educational issues she was working on. Later, at her invitation, my son and I returned to the Capitol to attend an educational summit she hosted. As we know, vouchers will not provide "school choice" for all students. They will only serve to weaken public schools and sacrifice equity. I oppose the privatization of public education, including full-time, privately-operated "virtual schools". Schools are community institutions, as well as centers of learning. While education alone cannot eradicate poverty, schools can help to coordinate the support and services their students and families need to thrive. Corporate reform strategies ignore the challenges that students bring with them to school each day and view schools as separate and autonomous from their communities. This does not mean that I oppose the use of online learning within the public schools. Not all students learn the same way, and as teachers, we must be open to using a variety of methods to meet the variety of learning styles in our students. This means while computers can help, other methods are also needed to reach students. Special education is one of the best examples for why vouchers should be opposed and charter schools should be more closely regulated, because they do not meet the same standards and protections that public schools must meet. As an attorney in private practice, I regularly have the opportunity to represent a Proposed Ward through Probate Court appointments as an Attorney Ad Litem. The parents request to become Legal Guardian of their now adult child, so that they can continue to care for them. Our local public schools accept these students up to the age of 23. The parents appreciate the public school's work with their children. While special education may be the best example, it is certainly not the only example of how our public schools meet the learning needs of a variety of students who come with a variety of learning and physical disabilities. Public schools work daily to meet the needs of all students. Charter schools do not.

 

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?

In the 2015 and 2017 Legislative Session as well the Governors call for the 2017 Special Session, special interest groups pushed multiple pieces of legislation, to prohibit public employees from contributing to employee associations of their choosing through payroll deduction. This was a blatant and direct attack on employees' rights to organize, make their voices heard, and their economic freedom. Employee associations for public employees in Texas is completely voluntary, as is the decision to pay dues through payroll deduction. Payroll deduction is also available to public employees for other reasons such as charitable contributions and insurance payments. There is no cost to tax payers to deduct dues from payroll checks. I support letting all public employees use payroll deduction for their membership dues.

 

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?

Yes, I favor limits on class size and limits on waivers. I've spoken to the superintendent of the Irving ISD on this matter to try to understand his support for waivers. As recently as October 23, 2017, the agenda of the Irving ISD School Board included consideration of waivers for class size. I attended and stated my position on the issue which was to maintain small class sizes and to avoid the use of waivers as much as possible. Unfortunately, the board voted in favor of waivers. I also oppose reducing certification standards. As the director of an alternative education program, I hired only certified teachers even though the contract with the Fort Worth ISD did not require it. I did this because I believe that it is important for all students to have access to a quality education. Every student deserves to have a teacher who is passionate about teaching that subject and grade level. There are many ways for school districts to address the shortage including alternative certification programs, H1B visas to recruit bilingual teachers, involving teachers in recruitment efforts. Teaching is a career. Our teachers should be well-trained and supported. They should be given the opportunity to assume leadership roles in their schools. Highly qualified teachers and school staff are our schools' greatest asset.