Candidates for Columbia Board of Education tackle drag, Parents Bill of Rights during first candidate forum

The candidates for Columbia Board of Education on Tuesday drew distinctions among themselves from the start of their first candidate forum.

The venue was the Columbia Board of Realtors Mark Farnen Candidate Forum at Diversified Management Co., 404 Tiger Lane.

The election is April 4, with candidates Paul Harper, John Potter, Chris Horn, James Gordon, John Lyman and April Ferrao.

Chuck Basye was in the audience for the forum. He's suing the district to get on the ballot, with a trial scheduled for Monday.

Former teacher Dean Klempke has dropped out of the race.

Moderator David Lisle wasted no time getting to the issue of the day, the drag performance at the Columbia Values Diversity Breakfast, attended by about 30 CPS students and students from private and religious schools.

"It's important to say first, drag doesn't hurt kids," Gordon said.

What hurts kids is homophobia and transphobia, he said.

"It's a huge distraction from the things actually going on in schools," Gordon said.

The Legislature is pursuing a series of anti-LGBTQ bills while state officials complain about a local drag performance, Harper said.

"People are using our event for their own agendas," he said.

Until the critics hold a child who is sobbing uncontrollably because their bodies and their minds don't match, they should not get involved, he said.

"I see you and I hear you," Harper said, addressing LGBTQ students and their parents.

Ferrao said she didn't consider that students would be allowed at an event that wouldn't take place in a school.

"I understand parents' concerns," Ferrao said. "I think there could have been more transparency."

It's another issue where the school district isn't being transparent, Potter said. He warned of drag performers wearing g-strings performing in front of children or drag story hours.

"What happened here is a pattern for CPS," Potter said.

The district could have had a better response and admitted mistakes, Horn said.

"I think it's a bit of a self-inflicted distraction," Horn said.

He revisited the topic in his closing statement.

"We saw some really hateful responses to the Columbia Values Diversity Breakfast," Horn said. "Those we condemn."

The diversity breakfast is meant to show kids that the world is full of diversity, Lyman said.

"My son was at the diversity breakfast," Lyman said. "It was awesome."

They talked about it afterward, he said.

The school district could have been clearer about what would be included on its permission slips, he said.

Candidates also were asked about the Parents Bill of Rights being considered in the Legislature which requires the school district to post curricula and lesson plans and allows parents to opt their children out of instruction they disagree with.

"It's overly burdensome for our educators," Horn said.

Parents should be involved but they shouldn't set curriculum, Lyman said.

"I'm not too familiar with it," Potter said. "Overall, I'm against the bill,"

"We already have a retention and recruitment problem," Ferrao said. "These are professionals. We need to be treating them as professionals.'

The solution for parents is simple, Gordon said.

"If you want to know what's going on in your kid's school, talk to your kid," Gordon said. "Talk with his teachers."

The legislation isn't about parents' rights, Harper said.

"This is about outside entities exercising their agendas," he said. "It's not a problem"

That morphed into parents disagreeing about what history is taught in schools.

The Parents Bill of Rights prohibits instruction of "The 1619 Project" or anything similar, Horn said, describing the New York Times' publication on the history of slavery in North America.

"History has led to problems that exist today," Horn said.

Learning all of history is important, Lyman said.

"It's important to understand our history," Lyman said. "That's what our students need. They need to look at all the sides and explore all perspectives."

Because of diversity practices, CPS teaches that we live in a white supremacist society and we all have inherent biases, Potter said.

"People are looking at history through different lenses," Potter said in one of several digs at diversity practices in the school district.

"We need to be teaching our history, the good the bad and the messy," Ferrao said.

Schools should be "that space where everyone's story is told," when the district practices equity, Gordon said.

"We need to teach facts," Harper said of history. "We need to teach critical thinking."

In a question about budgeting, Potter said the teacher-student ratio needs to be addressed. That requires more teachers at higher pay while reducing administrators and the diversity budget.

Potter also addressed his comments in his closing remarks.

"I am for inclusion and diversity," Potter said. "I am a Jesus follower."

He said that requires him to be accepting of all people.

"It's just gone too far and I want to rein it back in," Potter said.

Roger McKinney is the Tribune's education reporter. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune. com or 573-815-1719. He's on Twitter at @rmckinney9.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: School board candidates draw distinctions from start of first forum