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The following article was originally posted on The Postandcourier.com
Two Democrats seeking to retain seats representing parts of Aiken County in the South Carolina General Assembly met their Republican opposition in a candidate forum Aug. 29.
S.C. Rep. Bill Clyburn faced Suzy Spurgeon and S.C. Senate Minority Leader Brad Hutto faced Sharon Carter at an education-focused forum held at the USC Aiken Student Activities Center.
The Aiken and USC Aiken Branches of the NAACP, the Aiken chapter of The Links and the Omicron Tau Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha hosted the forum.
The candidates received 20 minutes to make their case to voters. During the 20 minutes, moderator Melencia Johnson asked each candidate questions. Candidates were provided two minutes to respond.
Johnson asked each candidate the same first question: “In the office that you currently hold or are seeking, what will be your most important educational focus?”
House District 82
Clyburn and Spurgeon are running for the House District 82 seat.
House District 82 includes Aiken’s Northside, northern Aiken County and parts of Edgefield and Saluda counties.
Clyburn said his top priority is teacher retention.
Clyburn served as a physical education teacher and a coach at Schofield High School and Aiken High School. He served as a principal at Aiken Elementary School and Aiken High School.
“Education has the power to transform lives,” Clyburn said. “And I’m a living example of that.”
Clyburn grew up in a poor, large family and attended Allen University on a football scholarship. He came to Aiken when he took a job at Schofield High School.
“I know how important it is to have a good teacher,” Clyburn said. “Good teachers solve some of these problems that we might be concerned. A good teacher will teach a student [to] where they mind [adults].”
There aren’t that many troublemakers in school, Clyburn said. Just students who want to be recognized treated like they have hope.
Spurgeon said her top educational priority is teacher safety.
“I’m driver’s ed instructor right now and I hear from teachers and students,” Spurgeon said. “Very few teachers go their entire career anymore without being physically threatened.”
Students who threaten teachers are removed from the classroom for a day or two then are allowed to return, Spurgeon continued.
“That teacher spends the rest of the year having to watch their back because they are afraid that kid is going to attack them,” Spurgeon said. “It’s not just the teachers, it’s also the other students [that fear the threatening student.]”
She said law enforcement has some “really good ideas,” and that it’s a handful of kids causing the problems.
“Never, ever should a teacher or a student have to spend the entire school year or even after worried about whether they’re going to be physically attacked,” Spurgeon said.
