After defeating current Utah State Board of Education member Brent Strate in the June primary, Republican Rod Hall will square off against Utah Forward candidate Laura Johnson to represent District 3 this November. The district encompasses East Layton, Clearfield and nearby cities.
Hall secured the Utah Republican Party’s nomination for the District 3 school board seat. He currently serves as an assistant pastor at Layton Baptist Church and was a teacher for over 10 years, according to his website.
Johnson is a former middle school teacher and business owner who previously lived in Florida, according to the Utah Forward Party’s website.
To better understand the candidates’ positions on issues readers told The Salt Lake Tribune were important in this general election, a reporter reached out to Hall and Johnson with the same set of questions, on topics from the now-voided income tax amendment to book bans.
Johnson shared her answers with The Tribune, while Hall did not respond to the questions. The questions and Johnson’s answers that appear below may have been edited slightly for length, style or grammar.
Amendment A is now void. But as written, it would have removed the current constitutional requirement that Utah’s income tax revenue be used only for 1) public education, 2) services for children and 3) people with disabilities, allowing lawmakers to direct some of those funds toward a broader range of “state needs.”
Do you support removing that constitutional spending restriction? (Yes or no).
Johnson: No.
[Hall did not respond to Tribune questions]
In 100 words or less, please explain why you do or do not support removing that constitutional spending restriction.
Johnson: The Legislature seems to be creating a back door to justify providing minimal funding to education, and then diverting the rest of the money to pet projects. I understand that we need to explore ways to meet all of these priorities with limited tax dollars, but we need to make sure that we don’t do that at the expense of educating the rising generation. If we don’t invest enough in them now, we’ll be suffering the effects of that negligence for more than a generation.
[Hall did not respond to Tribune questions]
Utah Forward candidate Laura Johnson, who is running for the Utah State Board of Education District 3 seat.
This year, 13 books were banned from all Utah public schools under a new law requiring a book’s statewide removal if at least three school districts (or at least two school districts and five charter schools) determine it amounts to “objective sensitive material.”
The law grants USBE members the opportunity to overturn statewide bans if at least three members move to hold a vote.
If elected, would you exercise this option for future bans? If so, under what circumstances? Please explain in 100 words or less.
Johnson: While I’m against banning books, I am for making sure that the books made available in our schools are age-appropriate. Books that are written for high school students should not be available for junior high or elementary students. As a teacher, I haven’t experienced this problem in the past, but I am aware that some states are pushing the boundaries of making inappropriate and explicit materials available to younger children. We should use a common-sense approach to this issue without resorting to drastic measures.
[Hall did not respond to Tribune questions]
Do you support the use of state-funded vouchers to cover private school tuition and homeschooling expenses in Utah? (Yes or no)
Johnson: Yes.
[Hall did not respond to Tribune questions]
In 100 words or less, please explain why you do or do not support the use of state-funded vouchers to cover private school tuition and homeschooling expenses in Utah.
Johnson: I’ve always believed in more options for parents and students. I’m OK with state funding for private and homeschooling as long as there is accountability. While most parents and schools do a great job of educating children, there’s always the potential for unethical people to take advantage of the system by taking the money without actually providing the education. Taxpayers should know where their money is going and institutions should be able to prove that growth and learning are actually occurring. Common sense and transparency are the keys to making sure that our voucher system succeeds.
[Hall did not respond to Tribune questions]
Correction • Oct. 16, 5:27 p.m.: The story has been updated to correct Laura Johnson’s response to the question, “Do you support the use of state-funded vouchers to cover private school tuition and homeschooling expenses in Utah? (Yes or no).” Johnson responded Yes.
