Smith, Matthew

Meet the Candidate

Running For:
School Board
District:
South Western School District
Age:
36
Occupation:
Contractor
Education: (click to expand)
Biographical Info: (click to expand)
Why are you running for office? (click to expand)

Survey

Response Legend

  • SSupport
  • OOppose
  • UUndecided
  • −Declined to Respond/Undecided, Position Unknown/Unclear
  • *Comment
  • †Declined to respond, Position based on citation

Question Response Comments/Notes
1. Providing state tax credits and education savings accounts to enable parents to choose what school their child attends. S* I supported the original HB-76, and last year publicly advocated to amend HB-13 to make it work better in not only eliminating school property tax, but equally important to provide actual school choice in the form of "education voucher" for every child in PA. I graduated from a charter school I attended at night while working full-time during the day, so I have first hand experience in the options and benefits school choice provides.
2. Reserving girls’ sports exclusively for biological females. S* There is obvious biological differences in male and female hormones, and the science of their body/bone structure. The possibility of taking advantage of unfair advantages is also obvious. Numerous examples have been shown all over the country.
3. Separating restrooms, locker rooms, and other privacy areas based on biological sex. S* Not much thought is required to assess what's appropriate and the inherent dangers. Restaurants and other private facilities have always been separated based on sex. It is wholly inappropriate to mix sexes in any facility, but especially teens going through puberty that may have new feelings and urges. All children have the right to privacy and to feel safe and secure in school, mixing facilities based on feelings/identities makes ensuring safety infinitely more difficult.
4. Permitting students to discuss their Christian faith with others during non-class time on school premises. S* That goes for any religion. The first amendment guarantees the free excercise thereof.
5. Allowing school personnel to refer students to abortion providers. O* Not appropriate at all.
6. Requiring signed permission (opt-in) from a parent before a student may participate in sex education classes or presentations on gender identity theory. S* Any talk about "gender identity theory" in school is not appropriate ever, it has nothing to do with actual sex education. Sex education is supposed to be about body parts and functions biologically, hormones, sexual reproduction (see also: life science), risks of disease, Etc. Anything beyond that is ridiculous and is up to the parents to teach, especially when referring to social constructs that have no scientific relevance.
7. Increasing transparency by requiring videos or documents shown to students [which are not part of pre-approved curriculum] be preserved for easy review by administrator and parents S* This would help ensure age appropriate content exposure.
8. Providing curricula that advocates critical race theory and its emphasis on defining people as oppressors or oppressed based on group identity or privileges. O* Wholly ridiculous, that is social/political and advocates for teaching children how to be racist. That serves to teach kids to judge people by the color of their skin and not by the content of their character.
9. Requiring teachers to use "she" to describe a biological male student who identifies as a female, even if the teacher offered a reasonable alternative. U* This is very difficult and I'm sure is very situational. I don't believe I have been put in that situation, so I don't feel it's appropriate to comment on an unlimited number of scenarios. I'm assuming this question is referring to a recent "identity change", not someone who appears to be the opposite sex with supporting female legal name. In that case, requiring a teacher to propagate a lie is not appropriate. I'm also assuming the teacher's union rep would provide backing when it involves a matter of fact.
10. Specifying in school policy that materials containing visual depictions of people engaging in sex acts or explicit written descriptions of people engaging in sex acts is not age-appropriate for the school’s curriculum and libraries. S* That describes phonographic material, and is not appropriate in any K-12 school, public or private. PA law has strict penalties for the sexual abuse of children and other related predatory offenses.