Life Issues / Family Ethics Political Action Committee of Southwest Washington

2021 School Board Survey

Candidates: Copy and paste either select questions or the full survey below into your word processor, type your answers and send to vote4life@lifepac.org Alternatively, you can compose your own statement using some of the survey's themes, or email us for a phone or in person interview, from which LifePac can write a report for posting.  Survey responses will be authenticated before use.  Please use your Election Department registered email account for correspondence.

A CONSISTENT ETHIC OF LIFE AND THE COMMON GOOD IN PUBLIC EDUCATION
A Consistent Ethic of Life and The Common Good require respectful and inclusive community collaboration in the provision of moral public education, using the broad application of principles valuing the sacredness of human life.  Threats to life include first abortion, fetal plundering and euthanasia, but also moral degradation, persistent poverty, unjust war, capital punishment, the use of nuclear arms, violence, racism, trafficking and exploitation.  Threats to The Common Good include governmental despotism, illicit acquiescence to special interests (e.g. the abortion lobby) and coercion (e.g. WSSDA) that promote moral degradation and violate the principle of subsidiarityAs a school board member, will you work to ensure that public education is based on a Consistent Ethic of Life and contributes to The Common Good?


SEX EDUCATION
In 2020, the Washington State Legislature passed SB 5395 (see also here), which requires all public school districts to teach comprehensive sex education, using programs approved by the State.  Many of these programs have objectionable content, such as sexualizing children, teaching children to consent to sex, normalizing anal and oral sex, promoting homosexual and bisexual behavior, promoting sexual pleasure, promoting solo and/or mutual masturbation, promoting condom use in inappropriate ways, promoting early sexual autonomy, failing to establish abstinence as the expected standard, promoting transgender ideology, promoting contraception and abortion to children, promoting peer-to-peer sex ed or sexual rights advocacy, undermining traditional values and beliefs, undermining  parents or parental rights and referring children to harmful resources (see comprehensivesexualityeducation.org).  See here for harm analyses of many of the Washington State approved programs, including FLASH.  See school district sex ed programs here OSPI main sex ed webpage here Will you as a school board member work to promote life-respecting sex education?


SCHOOL CLINICS
Washington State continues to facilitate the expansion of school based clinics, most recently in 2021 legislation that established a State office for that purpose (HB 1225).  A 2010 incident that received widespread news coverage involved a Seattle area in-school clinic that set up an abortion for a 15-year-old high school student with neither her parents’ knowledge nor consent.  What is your position on schools dispensing birth control drugs or devices, giving abortion counseling, or providing referrals to off-site abortion facilities?

_____ Support

_____ Oppose

_____  No Opinion

_____  Other:

 


SCHOOL CHOICE

National polls on support for school choice consistently runs high, currently at about 70% (Amer Fed for Children).  The Supreme Court in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002), held that Ohio's school voucher law did not violate the First Amendment's establishment clause.  It states, "the Ohio program is entirely neutral with respect to religion. It provides benefits directly to a wide spectrum of individuals, defined only by financial need and residence in a particular school district. It permits such individuals to exercise genuine choice among options public and private, secular and religious. The program is therefore a program of true private choice" and "the program does not offend the Establishment Clause."   Legislation has been introduced in the past (HB 2933 by Vicki Kraft in 2020) to allow scholarship tax credits for lower-income families to send their children to an approved private school of their choice.  The Jan 2020 SCOTUS case Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue indicates the fragility of Washington State's Blaine Amendment.  What is your position on school vouchers, tax credits or other methods of increasing school choice in Washington State? 

_____ Support

_____ Oppose

_____  No Opinion

_____  Other:

 

COVID 19 POLICY

What is the way forward for schools during the Covid 19 pandemic?

_____ Continue with Current Policies Restricting On Site Learning

_____ Open Schools More Fully

_____  No Opinion

_____  Other:

 

SOCIAL EQUITY
America has traditionally promoted equal opportunity, whereas equity policies promote equal outcomes.  The 1970's developed theory called Social Equity isn't so much about a charitable welfare tool, one that helps groups of people with targeted characteristics, such as persistent poverty, low educational achievement and poor health to improve their circumstances.  Welfare generally confers equity in some form, often financial.  Rather, social equity demands reparations for claimed past injustices, be it the slave history of Black Americans or some other supposedly oppressed group, using equal outcomes as a measure for success.  In an educational setting, this can result in the needs of academically high achieving students not being served, where "the achievement gap" is narrowed by the removal of advanced educational opportunities or "tracks."  Social equity uses Marxist inspired Critical Race Theory as a justification (Camas example), with its promotion of oppressor and oppressed classes, guilt and jealousy, and invoking social justice arguments to address supposed systemic racism.   What is your position on social equity?

_____ Support

_____ Oppose

_____  No Opinion

_____  Other:

 

CRITICAL RACE THEORY
What is your position on implementing Marxist inspired Critical Race Theory (CRT) in school districts?

_____ Support

_____ Oppose

_____  No Opinion

_____  Other:

 

1619 PROJECT
What is your position on teaching the much criticized 1619 Project on American history?  See also here and here (Wiki).

_____ Support

_____ Oppose

_____  No Opinion

_____  Other:

 

ABORTION
Even dedicated proponents of abortion acknowledge that life begins at conception.  What do you believe?  Does a unique human life begins at conception? 

If not, how long after conception does a human life begin?
___3 mths   ___6 mths   ___9 mths   ___1 yr   ___18 yrs?

   


The 14th Amendment states "nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." The Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade, 1973, stated that "if this suggestion of personhood is established, the appellant's case, of course, collapses, for the fetus' right to life would then be guaranteed specifically by the [14th] Amendment."  The Court regrettably concluded though that "we need not resolve the difficult question of when life begins. When those trained in the respective disciplines of medicine, philosophy, and theology are unable to arrive at any consensus, the judiciary, at this point in the development of man's knowledge, is not in a position to speculate as to the answer."  Do you believe that the right to life of the unborn child is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment?


Is taking the life of a pre-born child through abortion ever morally permissible?  Check all that apply:

_____ No, it's never permissible

_____ Yes, to save mother's life

_____ Yes, in cases of rape or incest

_____ Yes, for physical deformity

_____  Yes, for gender

_____  Yes, for race

_____  Yes, to punish spouse

_____ Yes, it's always permissible


Do you support parental notification and/or consent before a minor (under 18 years of age) could have an abortion?  A judicial bypass of parents would be allowed when necessary.  A 2013 poll commissioned by Human Life WA, found Washington State voters are widely supportive of laws requiring "parental involvement" in abortion decisions for girls under the age of 18 (62-29% with just under 10% undecided).  Read a summary of the results here.  Do you support:

Notification?

Consent?
 

PLANNED PARENTHOOD
The nation's biggest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, in the 2018-2019 fiscal year received $617 million in tax payer funding and aborted 345,672 babies.  Planned Parenthood is active in Oregon school districts, where their representatives have been allowed to regularly address students in both Portland and Salem Opposition has been firm and articulate (segment begins at 12:44). 
Should Planned Parenthood be allowed to make presentations to students or provide literature, birth control chemicals or devices, or abortion services?

 

RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA
Recreational marijuana was legalized in Washington State in 2012 by Initiative 502 The drug though is still banned federally, and considered dangerous by many, including the AMA, the APA, and The American Academy of Child and Adolescent PsychiatryCitizens against Marijuana Legalization (CALM) states "The normalization, expanded use, and increased availability of marijuana in our communities are detrimental to our youth, to public health, and to the safety of our society."  The Alaska Association of Police Chief describe some of the negative aspects of legalizing the drug here.   For additional dangers see here For an extensive report by the National Academy of Sciences (Jan 2017) see here What is your position on the legal production, processing and sale of recreational marijuana in Washington State?

_____ Support

_____ Oppose

_____  No Opinion

_____  Other:


QUALIFICATIONS

Please state your professional experience, community involvement, education, family successes and other qualifications for a school board position.  Do you have children of your own?

 

 

POLICY POSITIONS
You may state here any policy positions you have in relation to the office you are seeking:

 


May LifePac post your returned survey on our website?  Your response is only posted with your permission. 

 

Please give your campaign web address if you have one: