John Szoka recognizes that education is often thought of as a campaign platform for Democrats, but he and Diane Wheatley, his Republican opponent for North Carolina’s open House District 45 seat, both have layered the public schooling dynamic into their May 8 primary race.
“It’s not a Democrat or Republican issue. It’s an issue for everyone to be concerned about” in seeking improvements, said Szoka, an Army retiree and small business owner in Fayetteville.
“I’ve always been a proponent of school choice” in public schools, said Wheatley, a former Cumberland County commissioner and 10-year member of the county school board. And, she believes, school vouchers and charter schools should have a role in the education alternatives for parents.
“Where we have gone off course in education is people are using the wrong metrics to measure success,” Szoka said. Instead of using a dollars-per-pupil barometer, lawmakers should “really focus on the results we are getting.”
Szoka said “a common theme” among school administrators and faculty is the lack of flexibility to try innovative teaching methods because of stifling central planning and requirements from Raleigh.
“I’m not for tearing down the system, but we can fix the system (by removing) tons of paperwork” and continuing to expand charter schools, he said.
Szoka believes K-12 schools should take the same approach to budget shortfalls as UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Holden Thorp did at the university level. Szoka said he admired Thorp’s attitude in brushing aside complaints about cutbacks and proactively looking for ways to reduce spending and still deliver the highest quality education possible.
Wheatley, a resident of Linden and retired transportation company owner, said the state needs more vocational schools. Cumberland County, like many districts, does not have one.
“Not every student is going to college, but certainly they would consider a vocation” and the school-based training to put them on a jobs track, she said.
Like Szoka, she believes lawmakers and state education officials “have to take the advice of the professionals” in the schools on how to best guide education practices.
District 45 is newly configured as a result of redistricting. Incumbent Democrat Rick Glazier was drawn out of the district and is now running in District 44, home to incumbent Democrat Rep. Diane Parfitt.
The N.C. Free Enterprise Foundation lists District 45 as a swing district. Registered voters are 45 percent Democrat, 31 percent Republican and 24 percent unaffiliated. The district is 63 percent white and 27 percent black.
Voters preferred Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr to Democrat challenger Elaine Marshall in 2010 by 57 percent to 40 percent, and voted 54 percent to 44 percent for U.S. Sen John McCain over U.S. Sen. Barack Obama for president in 2008, but also favored Democrat Bev Perdue over Republican challenger Pat McCrory in the governor’s race, 51 percent to 46 percent, in 2008.
The winner of the Republican primary will face Floyd Dees, former Hope Mills mayor, in the Nov. 6 General Election. Dees has no primary opponent.
Szoka and Wheatley hold similar conservative beliefs.
“I am pro-life, and I would support the marriage amendment,” Wheatley said.
“There’s a lot of social issues I care about, but the biggest issues right now are not social issues but the economy, to get this country, this state, city and county running,” Szoka said.
Both agree that the state budget is bloated, and the size and scope of government programs and services need to be trimmed. They agree that there are too many regulations on businesses, especially environmental laws, and say taxes are too high.
“People get wrapped up in the [state government] programs and they become sacred cows,” Szoka said. “Some programs may have made sense 30 years ago but we don’t need them now.”
Chicken, hog, and turkey farmers say environmental regulations “don’t make their product safer, it just creates a whole mountain of paperwork. And that’s the kind of thing that needs to go away and the kind of thing that bloats the state government,” Szoka said.
There needs to be a “tough top to bottom look at what we’re supporting in the state” with tax dollars, Szoka said. “It’s not government’s role to have its fingers in every pie out there,” so doing things such as the public-private partnership at the North Carolina Zoo should be explored in other venues.
“I think that government can’t solve all of the problems that we have and that it’s just gotten out of hand. Too big,” said Wheatley. “I think there probably are places that are duplicated” in terms of services.
She also said that she is concerned that money is shifted from the Highway Trust Fund to pay for operations and programs that are not related to improving state transportation and highways.
While they share many platforms, Wheatley said she expects her name recognition to give her a boost at the polls.
“I have been involved in the public service arena as an elected official for 14 years and folks know that. I am not going to need a lot of preparation to be ready to go. I understand the process and I have the experience,” Wheatley said. “I believe that is invaluable.”
“Frankly, people don’t care what your resume is,” Szoka said. Rather, they “recognize that we have a problem,” and “the strength of my convictions and my core beliefs are more important” in getting the job done in Raleigh.
Dan Way is a contributor to Carolina Journal.