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Provo • When the television program CSI premiered, Stan Lockhart said Thursday, young fans were inspired to study forensic science, only to discover the limitation of career opportunities in that industry.
The state school board incumbent used that anecdote as an example for why Utah students deserve career guidance to better enter the modern job market.
"We do those kids a disservice because we have not given them any guidance whatsoever," Lockhart said. "They're choosing places that are dead ends."
But Lockhart's opponent in the school board race, Scott Neilson, said guidance can too easily turn into influence.
Utah's technology industry, he said, is already working to influence education decisions and steer children into careers in STEM, an acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
"I don't believe that's healthy, and I don't believe that's ethical," he said. "The last thing we should be doing is trying to funnel our kids one way or another and limit the choices they have."
The exchange occurred during a debate between the two candidates, held at Freedom Academy in Provo.
It was the second in a series of statewide debates for the 16 candidates running for the Utah Board of Education.
Neilson, a classroom teacher in Nebo School District, and Lockhart, who self-identifies as Utah's "STEM evangelist," are running for the school board's District 13 seat, which primarily represents Provo and southern Utah County.
Neilson took issue with the involvement of Utah's business community in public education. On Wednesday, Senate President Wayne Niederhauser and House Speaker Greg Hughes encouraged industry leaders to donate to Lockhart and other school board candidates who are running against classroom educators.
He objected to the suggestion by Niederhauser, R-Sandy, that "education interests" would create an imbalanced and uncooperative school board.
"Give me a break," Neilson said. "That is a complete joke."
Neilson also suggested that current state leaders are hypocritical, speaking in favor of local control while continuing to accept funding from Washington, D.C.
"It's a bunch of baloney," Neilson said. "They've accepted every single penny the federal government has offered them."
Lockhart said his priority is making sure students are taught by competent educators.
The effect of a good teacher, whether he or she was trained in education at a university or reached the classroom through an alternate career path, he said, is immeasurable.
"I am where I am in great measure because of the quality teachers I had."
The state school board, including Lockhart, recently created a new licensure path for classroom teachers. The Academic Pathway to Teaching, or APT, allows an individual with a bachelor's degree and content knowledge to teach under the mentorship of an experienced educator.
Trained educators should be placed at the front of the line for classroom jobs, Neilson said, with APT candidates hired in the absence of a traditional candidate.
But Lockhart said that whoever can be a competent educator, whether a person with teacher training or an academic degree, should be allowed to work in schools.
"The reason I voted for [APT] wasn't because of a teacher shortage, necessarily," Lockhart said. "It's because I want people to be able to achieve their hopes and dreams."
Audience member Alyson Williams questioned the candidates on the level of student testing data the state should collect.
"As a parent, I have a concern about the level of data that we're collecting," she said.
Lockhart said he wants Utah to "get out of the high-stakes testing game" and perform only the minimum amount of data collection necessary to satisfy federal requirements.
Neilson said statewide tests are irrelevant because students don't take them seriously, leading to data that are skewed.
"The only people who need to see testing data are the teacher who is giving the test, the parents and the student," Neilson said. "Why in the world would we send data, especially individual [student] data outside the school district?"
The candidates were asked about the role of teachers unions in the state, and what the proper role for them should be.
Unions like the Utah Education Association are private organizations, Neilson said, and are free to work toward the role they choose.
"I'm not in the teachers union, but I'm not against the teachers union," Neilson said. "Personally, I don't really care what the union is doing."
Lockhart said the teachers union is like any other education stakeholder in the state. He said he goes out of his way to meet with it, even when they don't see eye to eye.
"They deserve attention and respect to the issues they bring up," Lockhart said. "There are times we disagree, and yet I still appreciate them."
The Utah Education Association has not contributed to either candidate in the District 13 race.
The next state school board debate will be held Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at South Jordan's Early Light Academy and will include District 11 candidates Erin Preston and Lisa Cummins.
The debates are sponsored by Utah Association of Public Charter Schools, Sutherland Institute, United Way of Salt Lake, Hinckley Institute of Politics and KSL/Deseret news.
Twitter: @bjaminwood