Tuesday night, Beaufort County Community College and Beaufort County Schools hosted an education forum, which showcased the views of local and state political candidates.

The forum, held at Washington High School’s Performing Arts Center, featured candidates for Beaufort County Board of Commissioners, N.C. Senate and N.C. House of Representatives, with Dave Jordan moderating. The candidates were given 90 seconds to give their opening statements on education, and a series of questions were asked. The questions were submitted by community members, educators and even a WHS history class and processed and vetted by the forum’s committee.

BCCC President Barbara Tansey said she was pleased with the attendance, which included not only educators from around the county, but other residents as well.

“We were pleased with attendance,” Tansey said. “It really helped sort the candidates from my perspective as far as which ones supported our educational needs. It definitely enlightened the people that were present on such things as core curriculum, finances needed for education and facility and maintenance needs.”

Tansey said the audience was responsive to comments made by the candidates — applause for agreement and comments from those who didn’t agree. However, there was support for each candidate at some point or another throughout the forum, Tansey said.
“They don’t always have the answers, but they know what they would do it the funding was available,” Tansey said. “Occasionally, there would be comments made. You kind of got a sense of what the audience thought. There was support for each candidate in the room. I was super pleased with the event. It was very well planned and something I think we should repeat. When we’re deciding who to vote for we forget to look at the critical needs for the community, and we understand that education is critical for the advancement of the community.”

BCCC and BCS split the cost of having the forum filmed, and the footage will be played on the Washington local government access television channel, Tansey said.

“We do have a video that is out there on some network,” Tansey said. “We split the cost of having it filmed and put it out on public television so people who could not attend can decided what they want.”