Candidates face off at League of Women Voters event

July 17, 2024 by Ben Pounds

Rick Scarbrough, left, is challenging state Rep. John Ragan of Oak Ridge for his seat in the Republican primary, while Anne Backus, right, is running for the same seat as a Dem- ocrat. They spoke at Roane State Community College’s Oak Ridge campus on Tuesday, July 9. (photo:Ben Pounds )

TN House

Education issues dominated the questions aimed at the state house candidates.

The first audience question for the house candidates came regarding Gov. Bill Lee’s proposal for a school voucher system.

Backus said that the state should spend tax dollars on public schools, not on helping students go to private schools.

“We need to fully fund our public education, including teacher salaries,” Backus said.

“We need to provide support for all children in our school system to make them be successful,” she said.

Ragan said, as he has on other occasions, that he did not support Lee’s proposal, but did support a bill that included Lee’s proposal along with 48 other provisions that Ragan said increased funding for public schools.

“Suffice it to say, it increased teacher pay,” Ragan said. “It increased coverage of health care for the teachers.

“It adds funding for schools to be able to do maintenance as well as general projects and a number of other things,” he said, although he noted that the full bill did not pass. He said he would support the same bill if it came up for a vote again, but not a version that only had Lee’s voucher proposal.

Scarbrough, meanwhile, said that money to reduce the cost of teachers’ health-care coverage “had to come from somewhere else.”

“So be leery about that,” he said. He also said he would never reduce standards for public schools, which he said was a provision people had considered.

“That’s non-negotiable,” Scarbrough said. “Never reduce standards.”

Another question regarded a proposal to eliminate HeadStart and free and discounted school lunch programs. None of the candidates said they supported the proposal.

Ragan said he had not read the proposal, which the citizen asking the question said was part of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, and added that he could not commit to it for that reason.

Scarbrough was more direct.

“Common sense will tell you, if we’re not going to feed our kids and provide our kids nutritious meals [who] need it, it doesn’t matter what programs you put in education,” he said. “I’m never going to argue about trying to feed children.”

He said he did not want to eliminate HeadStart either due to the importance of children’s early years.

Backus agreed with Scarbrough on both issues.

“Every child [who] needs a meal should be able to get a meal; they can’t work without it,” she said.

The next question came regarding the teaching of American History in grades K-12.

“History’s objective; just teach history,” Scarbrough said.

He said the state should provide oversight for the counties.

“Teach everybody’s history, not just one side,” Backus said. She praised Anderson County’s school systems and said people needed to trust them.

Ragan used the opportunity to explain how the current system works, adding that the state school board sets state standards, while the county school boards develop curricula.

“The teachers are supposed to teach what is handed to them by the school boards; they are employees,” he said.

Finally, the three of them answered a question about gun deaths.

“I don’t want to take anybody’s guns, but we should be able to do some common-sense gun laws,” Backus said. “Everybody who has a gun should store it where no kid can get to it.”

Ragan said most gun deaths are suicides, whick suggests a need to address mental health. He said the only way to prevent homicides is “much more rigid law enforcement.”

Scarbrough spoke of gun safety, mental health and law enforcement as three issues worthy of consideration.

He said the state shouldn’t “hamstring” law enforcement in its investigations of existing gun laws. He also expressed concern that the state had closed one-third of its mental health institutions years ago. He specifically expressed concern about veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.



County Commission

“He cares about the Scarboro 85. He cares about the Boys and Girls Club. He cares about thing that really matter. And in our society today that really counts for something,” said Beauchamp regarding Wells. “He’s one of the good guys and I hope you can consider him for re-election.”

When The Courier News asked Capshaw after the event what distinguished her from Wells, she said it was listening to constituents’ voices.

“People come to me all the time with different issues,” she said, adding she had already been voicing those concerns she heard to the Oak Ridge City Council, Anderson County Commission and Anderson County Budget Committee meetings.

“I feel like I’m a person [who’s] approachable, [who] has an empathetic heart,” she said.

She also said she has similar values to previous District Commissioner Catherine Denenberg.

“So, I feel like I would bring back the voice to the district that they lost when they nominated someone with different values from her.”



School Board

Langenberg told The Courier News what distinguished her most from Miller was her knowledge of the county and its communities.

“I’ve served on the board long enough that this is very important,” she said.

Miller by contrast highlighted his experience as a teacher.

“I am bringing the perspective of a teacher to the board, and I think that that’s important,” he said.