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South Jordan • Human nature hasn't changed since the time of Adam, state school board candidate Lisa Cummins said Tuesday, and it won't change tomorrow.

History repeats, the parent and home-school educator said, and students need to be prepared for perpetual cycles of prosperity, complacency, war, disgruntlement and humility.

"Teaching character is paramount to education," Cummins said. "It doesn't matter what faces them, as long as they have the character and the courage and integrity to face it."

Her opponent, attorney and former charter school administrator Erin Preston, said students must be prepared to solve tomorrow's problems using technology not yet invented in careers that do not exist now.

"The only thing we can truly do to prepare our students for the future is teach them how to think," Preston said. "What is going to get us to the future is teaching students how to create something new from what they are given."

Those comments came during a debate Tuesday evening at Early Light Academy. It was the third in a series of eight events sponsored by the Utah Association of Public Charter Schools, United Way of Salt Lake, Sutherland Institute and KSL.

Cummins and Preston are running for the District 11 seat of the Utah Board of Education. Jefferson Moss holds the seat and declined a re-election campaign to instead run for a seat in the Utah House.

During the debate, Cummins frequently positioned herself as an opponent to what she called overregulation of public schools at the hands of federal and state governments.

"I think there are things that you do not move from," Cummins said. "If there is someone I completely disagree with, then I will vote 'no.' There are some times when you have to vote 'no' and you stand your ground."

The content of today's classrooms reflects the government of the future, she said while promising to direct public education elsewhere.

"We have a socialist government right now," Cummins said. "We have socialism going on in the classroom. I am going to contend that I will stand up for liberty."

Cummins also said that Utah's use of standardized testing has led to post-traumatic stress disorder among children, and she intimated that "horrible literature" had contributed to the high rate of youth suicides through the power of suggestion.

"[Students] need guidance," Cummins said. "They're lost, and they're angry, and we need to help them."

Preston emphasized her experience as a collaborator and team builder, often referencing her time launching a charter school and her service on various education-related task forces.

"We don't have the option to gridlock," Preston said. "You never completely disagree. What you need to do is talk more."

Most issues in public education, she said, stem from Utah's status as the lowest-funded school system, on a per-pupil basis, in the country.

Teachers need greater support, she said, including enhanced mentor roles for veteran educators and higher salaries.

"You shouldn't have to take a vow of poverty to be a teacher," Preston said.

Cummins countered by saying that the state and its school districts should undergo a "line-by-line audit" to discover underutilized revenue streams.

"We're not the lowest [funded], but we're one of the lowest," Cummins said.

While some individual school districts benefit from local property taxes to reach competitive funding levels, Utah's state contribution to public education ranks 51st among all U.S. states and Washington, D.C.

During the debate, Cummins specified that she was not endorsed by the Utah Education Association (UEA) and often described herself as a teacher, citing her experience as a parent.

"I'm not backed by UEA," Cummins said. "I stand on my own two feet, and I'll stand alone if I have to."

The UEA has endorsed and contributed to Preston's campaign. Preston said she was proud of the group's support, despite sometimes disagreeing with the teachers union.

"I am beholden to no one," she said.

The candidates also disagreed on the subject of special education while responding to an audience question about dyslexia.

The definition and criteria for special education services, Cummins said, has been inappropriately broadened in an effort to intermingle developmentally challenged children with "normal kids."

"They are being clumped together in the same group," she said. "We're setting our kids up for failure on purpose."

Preston said the failures of special education stem from a lack of resources because schools with tight budgets are forced to focus on a broad-range approach that neglects children on opposite sides of the academic spectrum — advanced and struggling.

All students need to be seen as individuals, she said, and they need to have support.

"Every child is different," Preston said. "Every child is special, and every child is normal because each child is unique."

The next debate will be held Wednesday at the Weilenmann School of Discovery in Park City. That debate is for the school board's District 7 seat, which comprises Salt Lake City and Park City. Carol Barlow-Lear and Shelly Teuscher are the candidates for that seat.

Twitter: @bjaminwood