Election 2020

State representative, Dist. 19

 

October 22, 2020



The Wahkiakum County Republican and Democratic team held a forum for Legislative District 19 candidates on October 14, which can be viewed on YouTube.

Jim Walsh, R, incumbent, is being challenged by Marianna Everson, D, for LD19 Representative, position 1; and Brian Blake, D, incumbent, is being challenged by Joel McEntire for LD19 Representative, position 2.

The candidates were asked several questions including: If the sexual health education bill becomes a law, what curriculum would you support to implement and why? Please give specific details about the curriculum.

Here are their responses and rebuttals.

Blake: You saw in The Daily News article, the Kelso School District, whether the bill passes or not, nothing is going to change. They are already teaching the curriculum and it is not a problem. I think districts can choose their own curriculum and I have great confidence in the school boards around this district that they will choose appropriate, age appropriate, curriculum, that meets the needs of their community when this bill becomes law. I think that at the younger ages, kindergarten, its very innocuous teaching them how plants grow and animals grow, and teaching them to tell a responsible adult if somebody is touching them wrong. We have a problem with child molestation in this state, and in this nation, and we need to start arresting and prosecuting child molesters who are hurting our children. That’s the kind of curriculum I’m looking for.

McEntire: I don’t want to tell you how to run your life. I don’t feel like I have the wisdom to be able to give the perfect solution for everybody. I believe in parental control, I believe in local control, I believe in local school boards to be able to decide these things at the most local and personal level possible for the welfare of our kids. Having a large overarching mandate from the state is not any way to properly bring sexual education to our students. This idea that this has something to do with catching child molesters. Where in this bill does this strengthen our sex offender registry, or strengthen our police force or detectives to be able to get to the bottom of it? It doesn’t do anything about that. It’s not about child predation or molestation. It’s about social engineering. This is something the left does very well. They know if they want to get something done in 20 years, they have to start with the young generation and teach them what they want them to know. This is about normalizing the agenda of the LGBTQ agenda. This is absolutely clear. You can read the curriculum. It has nothing to do with preventing child molestation. This is all about indoctrinating sexual practices as young as possible, starting at the kindergarten level.

Blake: You cannot register a sex offender, if you haven’t first arrested them and put them in jail. You have to prosecute these people. For far too long, folks say, we’ll just keep it in the family, we don’t want Uncle Johnny to go to prison, it will be embarrassing. We have got to protect our children. We’ve got to pass this law, arrest these people, and put them in prison and put them on this registry.

Walsh: Vote rejected on Referendum 90 on your ballot due November 3. I’m proud to be one of the legislative cosponsors to get that referendum on the ballot, so that the people of Washington could vote rejected. There is at current, only one curriculum that completely matches the requirements of that legislation, and that is the so called Three Rs curriculum. There are other sexual curriculum that could eventually meet the requirements of that bill, but currently there is only one. The real problem I have with the underlying legislation, and the reason I am so adamantly an advocate for rejecting Referendum 90 is that it moves control over the curriculum from the elected school boards to the bureaucrats at the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. And while local school boards can develop their own material or adopt material somebody else developed as their course material, they still have to get that decision approved by OSPI. So there is definitely a shift of authority and final decision making power away from the local elected school board to the bureaucrats at the state’s superintendents office. That’s the real reason I object to the underlying legislation. There is little in the underlying legislation or the curriculum currently approved by the bill that helps law enforcement. That is not the focus of the curriculum.

Everson: I have a kindergartener. He will learn the life of a flower or how a dog grows. My teenagers again, will learn how to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases, what consent is, which is very important to prevent sexual assault. I believe in all of that. Parents can opt out if they feel that is too much information for their kids. They can look at the curriculum. They can read it themselves, inform themselves, and know what their kids are up against. It’s all about choice. What I really want to say is that I reject your statement, Joel, that this is an LGBTQ agenda. This is not. People of our community, who identify as LGBTQ have just as much right to the respect and dignity as anyone else. I am outraged that you would over and over and over again say that someone in the LGBTQ has an agenda that they want to afford to the rest of the community. We are not doing that, sir. And I think its outrageous that you would even say it. I’m tired of hearing it.

Walsh: There is nothing of substance in what Marianna said that needs rebuttal.

 

Reader Comments(0)

 
 

Powered by ROAR Online Publication Software from Lions Light Corporation
© Copyright 2024

Rendered 03/28/2024 14:25