For Mark Terry, supporting public education is about much more than policy. It is personal.
As deputy executive director of the Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association (TEPSA), Mark works to support the school leaders who help Texas children succeed. As a member of the Texas Retired Teachers Association (TRTA), he remains committed to advocating for the educators and school employees who have spent their careers serving children and families.
That commitment began long before his professional career. Growing up in a tiny town of just 565 people during the late 1950s and early 1960s, Mark experienced firsthand the difference a caring school community can make in a child’s life.
His mother, a divorced parent raising four children with little financial support, worked as a cook at the elementary school Mark attended before taking a second job at Sears and Roebuck. Despite their circumstances, Mark and his siblings found encouragement and support from the people around them.
“My teachers, our school librarian, the counselor, and my principal, along with my grandparents and my aunt and uncle, quietly helped my siblings and me in ways I will never forget,” Mark recalled. “Sometimes it was a new pair of shoes, a surprise gift, or a mysterious delivery of groceries. Those little acts of kindness weren’t little to us. They helped us survive.”
The school community became an extension of his family, and those experiences never left him.
“What happened to my family more than 60 years ago is still happening in public schools all across Texas today,” Mark said. “I suspect many TRTA members have similar stories. Some, like me, were the children who received that love and encouragement. Others were the educators and school employees who provided it, often without recognition and sometimes out of their own pockets.”
That enduring connection continues to shape his work and priorities.
“How in the world could I not continue giving back to a profession that gave so much to me and my family?” he said.
Supporting the School Leaders Who Support Texas Children
TEPSA has served Texas prekindergarten through eighth-grade school leaders since 1917. With more than 6,000 members, the association provides leadership training, professional networking, information, and support to help school leaders improve education for Texas children. Its work also includes advocacy for public education and efforts to improve the working conditions and standing of school leaders.
For Mark, supporting public education means recognizing everyone who helps schools succeed.
“The administrators, teachers, paraprofessionals, custodians, cafeteria workers, maintenance crews, bus drivers, and all the other folks who make our schools and school districts run are heroes in my eyes,” he said.
That perspective is reflected in his appreciation for TRTA, which recognizes the contributions of the entire school family and advocates for those who dedicated their working lives to Texas public schools.
“Being a member of TRTA means belonging to one of the premier retired educator associations in the country, an organization whose mission is centered on improving the lives of those who spent their careers making a difference for children,” Mark said. “That’s something worth being proud of!”
For Mark, retirement does not mean leaving public education behind. It offers new opportunities to serve through volunteering in schools, supporting scholarships, helping fellow retirees, and speaking up for public education.
“For most of us, retiring from a school career doesn’t mean retiring from caring about children, teachers, or public education,” he said. “It simply gives us new ways to serve.”
“It’s part of our DNA, and I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he added.
A Responsibility to Those Who Served
Mark believes Texans have a responsibility to support the people who spent their careers serving children and families.
“I also believe we have a responsibility to remind our state legislators that the men and women who spent their careers serving children and families deserve more than a pat on the back and a thank-you,” he said. “They deserve quality healthcare at a reasonable cost, regular cost-of-living adjustments to their retirement benefits, and the dignity and respect they have so richly earned.”
For Mark, those priorities are inseparable from the future of public education.
“At a time when there is a growing push to privatize public education, we need to remember that more than 4.5 million children attend Texas public schools,” he said. “The future of our state rests, in large part, in the hands of those schools and the educators who serve in them.”
He wants future generations to have the same opportunities and encouragement that helped him succeed.
“I want my legacy, and the legacy of all of us who have devoted our lives to education, to be a strong, thriving public school system where children have every opportunity to succeed and educators enjoy the working conditions, compensation, and respect they deserve.”
Retired educators care about their own retirement security, Mark said, but their concerns also extend to today’s students and the educators who serve them.
“Our members care about their retirement, of course, but they care just as much about what happens to the next generation of Texas kids,” he said.
The Power of Showing Up
Mark believes retired educators have a powerful role to play in legislative advocacy. They don’t have to be policy experts or travel to Austin regularly to make a difference.
“I feel very strongly that the collective voice of retired educators is one of the most powerful voices in Texas politics,” he said.
Drawing on years of experience working with legislators and their staff, Mark has seen firsthand how much attention elected officials pay when retired educators make their voices heard. TRTA Day at the Capitol offers members an opportunity to communicate their priorities directly to lawmakers.
“I sometimes wonder whether TRTA members fully appreciate the impact they have when they descend on Austin for TRTA Day at the Capitol,” Mark said. “Having spent years working with legislators and their staff, I can tell you firsthand that they pay attention!”
But advocacy can begin much closer to home. Mark encourages members to identify their elected representatives, send a short personal note, request a meeting at a local district office, and follow up with a phone call.
“You don’t need to be a political expert. You don’t need a fancy presentation,” he said. “You simply need to tell your story, explain what matters to you, and help your legislator understand how their decisions affect real people.”
He also urges members to stay connected with TRTA’s legislative efforts, respond when the association asks them to contact lawmakers, and volunteer whenever possible.
“I’ve been doing this legislative work for a long time, and I can tell you that nothing takes the place of building relationships and showing up,” he said.
His message is clear: Retired educators have a valuable perspective on the needs of Texas schools and the people who serve in them. Their voices can help lawmakers understand why affordable healthcare, retirement benefits that keep pace with the cost of living, and continued support for public education matter.
Mark has never forgotten the people who helped him believe he could succeed. Today, he carries their memory into legislative offices and advocates for the people who continue that work for Texas children.
“We’ve spent our lives standing up for kids. I don’t see any reason to stop now,” he said.
“And I guarantee you, when TRTA members speak together, folks at the Capitol listen!”
