Questionnaire Responses – Ellen Lamont

1 – If elected, in what way(s) will you bring a different and important perspective to the Watauga County School Board?

Watauga County’s recent redistricting was designed to limit the influence of progressive voices on the school board. This in an ongoing problem in Watauga County as groups work to disenfranchise college students in particular. That’s why it’s so important for those living in District 1 to vote for me as the most progressive candidate on the ballot. I will provide a bulwark against conservative efforts to bring politics into schools and undermine public education through initiatives such as voucher programs. I view public education as a public good and will draw on that framework in all decision-making if I am elected to the Watauga County School Board. In practice, this means supporting solutions that empower the community rather than individuals. It means emphasizing evidence-based education and programming, drawing on my training as a researcher, interviewer, and educator to gather data and learn from constituents before developing appropriate interventions and initiatives. Finally, it means supporting all students, including LGBTQ students, students of color, immigrant students, students with disabilities, and low-income students, so that all children can thrive in our schools and see themselves and their needs reflected in programming and educational material. I am currently a professor at Appalachian State where I have been involved in curriculum development and have won three teaching awards, including the College of Arts and Sciences Teacher of the Year and the Board of Governors Appalachian State University Excellence in Teaching Award. In this role, I have gained intimate knowledge of how students take agency over their education and become engaged lifelong learners when teachers are given the autonomy and support to leverage their expertise and talents to create student buy-in. We need this support for teachers at the K-12 level as well.

2 – What do you consider to be the most pressing issue facing Watauga County Schools and how will you address this issue if elected?

The biggest challenge facing Watauga County schools is the declining funding support from the state. This impacts the services and programming schools are able to provide as well as teacher and staff recruitment and retention and thus undermines the mission of public education. As a school board member, I will lobby for an increased percentage of funding from the state as well as against vouchers that pull money directly from our public schools and drive down enrollment numbers, further depressing funding. I will work with local leaders to identify alternative funding sources through both local initiatives and state and federal grants in order to temporarily bridge the gap while we advocate for more robust and effective long-term solutions. Here in Watauga County, we have the added challenge of a high cost of living. We don’t want our teachers to have to work additional jobs or commute long distances or even lose our teachers to other locations. This requires working with county commissioners to accelerate solutions to the affordable housing crisis.

3 – If you could increase Watauga County’s public school spending in only one area, what would your priority be and why?

My priority would be increasing teacher and staff salaries. North Carolina ranks 43^rd in the nation in teacher pay. Low teacher and staff salaries undermine the quality and stability of public education. Here in Watauga County, we face the additional challenge of a high cost of living. When salaries don’t provide a livable wage, schools struggle with high turnover and persistent vacancies. Teachers and staff get burned out or take second jobs to make ends meet. This is unfair on its face because workers deserve to be fairly remunerated for their labor and have sufficient time and energy to enjoy their personal lives. But it also harms the quality of education public schools provide to our students. When our educators and support staff are forced to work under these conditions, it reduces the time and energy they can devote to students. This impacts the quality of education both in terms of the tangible knowledge and skills students receive, but also because it leaves teachers with less energy to make the valuable emotional connections to students that have been shown to be crucial to student engagement and learning outcomes. Schools struggle to attract new members to the profession and to retain their most talented educators and staff who may leave for more supportive working conditions, often exiting the profession completely. Schools may be left with gaps in essential services, often cutting support to our most vulnerable students and undermining their mission of equality of opportunity. Finally, low teacher and staff salaries send a message about the value we as a society place on education. Public education should be valued as a shared community investment not only in individual future achievement, but in the collective health of our society as a shared democratic project attuned to the common good. Support for increased teacher and staff salaries unite people across the political aisle – nationally, only 6% believe teacher salaries are too high. Let’s show our educators we understand the value of their labor.

4 – Do you support or oppose re-directing funding from NC public schools to the state’s Opportunity Scholarship (voucher) program for private and charter schools? Please explain.

I oppose redirecting funding from NC public schools to the state’s Opportunity Scholarship program for private and charter schools because it appropriates public state resources for private benefit, exacerbating inequality and undermining accountability to democratic governance. While politicians who champion voucher programs use language that appears to reflect a desire for equality of opportunity, the term “government schools” belies their actual goal – lower taxes and less government investment in the public good rather than better educational outcomes. But we shouldn’t be surprised that many parents flock to this option; they’ve never seen fully funded public education and have no reason to believe our legislators plan to make that a priority. So they see an option that may help their child get a better education. But our job on the school board is not simply to seek opportunities for one child, but to ensure that all children have access to an excellent education. Vouchers undermine that goal. Money matters to quality education. Efficiency alone cannot cure the problems created by underfunding. Vouchers reduce the pool of resources for all kids so that some kids can get an advantage. These are often children from families who already have the resources to access private education. Vouchers leave struggling schools struggling more as the kids who remain behind are those with the greatest needs, such as students with disabilities and low-income students. Private schools are often exempt from public oversight and teachers receive fewer labor protections. The result is not increased opportunity across the board, but increased inequality. They also undermine the founding principle of separation of church and state, redirecting public funds to religious institutions, and a shared sense of collective investment in education. To conclude, I see vouchers as the wrong answer to the right question as their supporters misinterpret the goal of public education. It is not simply about getting the highest test scores or economic efficiency because schools are not businesses providing a consumer product. They are public goods that require public funding to meet their potential as engines of opportunity that serve the needs of democracy.

5 – Do you support or oppose the state legislature’s lowering the percentage of NC’s Education Lottery revenue allocated to public schools? Please explain.

I oppose the state legislature’s lowering the percentage of NC’s Education Lottery revenue allocated to public schools because it reduces the limited revenue that schools already receive. That said, I view this funding source as a less effective long-term solution to public funding of education than progressive income taxes. The argument provided for this funding reduction rests on the claim that the Education Lottery revenue stream is impacted by fluctuations in the popularity of types of lottery games and online betting and their related payouts. While it’s never advisable to cut necessary funds to public education, it’s also unwise to rest the health of the public education system on something susceptible to fluctuations in gambling patterns. Rather than fully fund public education, the NC General Assembly has prioritized tax cuts for individuals and corporations. We are now ranked dead last in public school funding per student. This is despite a foundational, constitutional right to public education in the state. This is why part of our work on the school board is creating public buy-in on the importance of broad community support for our public schools. Income taxes for public education are an investment in our future and our community. These, combined with a higher percentage of revenue from the Education Lottery directed to public schools, can close the gap between what we receive and what we need.

6 – Do you support or oppose NC’s pending House Bill 636 — Promoting Wholesome Content for Students”? Please explain.

I oppose NC’s pending House Bill 363 – Promoting Wholesome Content for Students. This bill functions as a form of state-sanctioned censorship, creating a process to remove books from school libraries based on poorly defined criteria. This bill undermines the expertise and discretion of teachers, school librarians, and school administrators to determine the best materials for their student learning goals. It replaces the right of students to learn about the world around them with parental control of school content. Vague criteria open the door to challenges to a wide range of subject matter, based on parental discomfort and ideology rather than educational value. We can expect to see a predictable attack on materials that engage issues related to LGBTQ people and racial inequality, silencing engagement with diverse perspectives in the classroom. Students of color, LGBTQ students, and immigrant students, for example, don’t have the privilege of ignoring how these identities shape lived experience until they are “age-appropriate.” All students must learn to live and function in a diverse society with complicated issues, and schools have an obligation to support students as they work through their understandings of these issues; this emphasis on critical thinking is the foundation a liberal education. Public institutions like public schools must function for all families, and this bill will allow a small subset of parents to determine the materials available to all students. It also creates administrative burdens for schools and invites litigation, pulling educators away from their most important work and creating a financial incentive for schools to self-censor in order to avoid a fine. This problem of self-censorship is compounded by vague criteria that invite subjective interpretations. Let’s trust that teachers, librarians, and school administrators have the expertise to select educational materials.

7 – State funding for our local schools is tied to enrollment at our local schools. What ideas can you bring forward as a Watauga County School Board member in light of declining enrollment?

The Watauga County School Superintendent has so far done a great job limiting the impact of declining enrollment on staffing by utilizing capital funds to cover budget shortfalls and using retirements to cover the majority of required personnel reductions. But more reductions are sure to come. Schools can share specialized staff, but this is less than ideal. Another approach is to advocate for weighted funding for rural districts or for policies that ensure enrollment reductions don’t automatically lead to funding cuts, but that districts are given a buffer period to plan for necessary adjustments. The school system can apply for state and federal grants to cover shortfalls as this process takes place, but this shouldn’t substitute for long-term planning. Schools can focus on identifying for protection the most high-impact programs. The county can investigate the feasibility of using local taxes as well. We should also push back against voucher programs that drain funding from local public schools. But these solutions really speak to the need for increased, sustained funding from the state to maintain the high-quality education we provide here.

8 – Do you support or oppose banning books about LGBTQ lives and/or with LGBTQ characters from public schools? Please explain.

I oppose banning books about LGBTQ lives and/or with LGBTQ characters from public schools. First, all people deserve to see their lives reflected in school materials. Representation matters. Students feel more included in schools when they do, which supports their emotional well-being and their investment in their education, leading to better learning outcomes and student retention. Second, students should learn about the range of lives present in our population so that they are prepared to engage with diverse groups of people. At best, banning books creates a superficial and temporary insulation from the kind of world in which they do and will live. At worst, it tacitly teaches students that some lives have more value than others and to prioritize the contributions of some groups over others. Book bans prioritize the perspective of a small sliver of the most vocal parents over the rights of students to receive a robust education and represents an erosion of the separation of church and state. The language of “age-appropriate” materials fails to respect the ability of students to engage thoughtfully with a range of often difficult subjects when guided by strong teachers and undermines our belief in teachers to do this work as trusted professionals.

9 – What are your ideas/proposals for increasing public participation with Watauga’s schools?

Schools can demonstrate broad support for student development and community engagement in order to bolster community buy-in, necessary for the strong functioning of public schools. Schools that focus on socioemotional learning, health and well-being, and civic engagement in addition to academics perform best at making a real difference in students’ lives. This generates significant trust from families who are more likely to participate in their local schools when they know that these schools are meeting their children’s needs. Parents need to know that classrooms aren’t overcrowded, that teachers are qualified and have the supplies they need, and that necessary programs are in place. This takes money. That’s why lobbying for increased funding is a crucial part of the equation. Schools can also demonstrate responsiveness to community challenges as a way to build trust and engagement. For example, in the wake of Hurricane Helene, public schools served as resource hubs for struggling community members. Clear and ongoing communication with the community increases transparency which builds trust. Schools should focus on offering multiple ways that the public can participate and help advise on school initiatives such as through town halls and volunteering. These must take into consideration the ways that some groups’ participation may be constrained. This might mean offering translation services or Zoom options or picking times when more people can attend. Actively listening to a wide range of community voices is important when schools set priorities, although schools must also stay aware of whose perspectives are dominating and whose may be stifled, and develop initiatives that support all students and families. These steps are important because they generate buy-in which is crucial to collective investment in public education. The whole population needs a sense of the communal benefits of public education so that support isn’t limited to those directly involved.