Blaizen Bloom
Non-Partisan | Virginia
Candidate Profile*
Leans Liberal
*Additional information appears below for educational purposes; however, only data received prior to the candidate deadline was considered during Panel Evaluation.
BIOGRAPHY
Name
Blaizen Bloom
Party
Non-Partisan
Election Year
2022
Election
General
Race
Chesapeake City Public Schools School Board, At-Large Seat
Incumbent
No
Links
EDUCATION
Candidate did not provide
WORK & MILITARY
Candidate did not provide
AFFILIATIONS
R.E.A.C.H., Volunteer, Teens With A Purpose
Volunteer, DCHS Key Club, Volunteer
DCHS National Honors Society, Volunteer, DCHS French Honors Society
Volunteer, Bay Group Sierra Club, Volunteer
South Norfolk Civic League, Dues Paying Member, ODU Model United Nations
Leader, ODU As(t*)erisk Student Advisory Board, Member
ODU QRC Student Advisory Board, Leader
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
Candidate did not provide
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
Candidate did not provide
Race
ENDORSEMENTS*
*These endorsements were received after the deadline and were not considered in the Panel Evaluations and are for additional educational purposes only.
LIBERAL (1)
*Free Thought Equality Fund PAC
REPORTED BY CANDIDATE (4)
Chesapeake Education Association
Hampton Roads Green Party
Green Party of Virginia
Steffanie Aubuchon - 2020 Chesapeake Mayoral Candidate
SELECTED CONTRIBUTIONS
LIBERAL
GIVEN BY CANDIDATE (1)
Green Party (2022)
RECEIVED BY CANDIDATE (1)
Green Party (2022)
SELECTED FINANCIAL SOURCE DOCUMENTS
- Statement of Organization - 1/1/2022
- Reporting Period of 7/3/2021 - 12/31/2021
- $125.00 contribution from Friends of Steffanie Aubuchon
- $125.00 contribution from Friends of Steffanie Aubuchon
- Reporting Period of 1/1/2022 - 3/31/2022
- Reporting Period of 1/1/2022 - 3/31/2022 (Amended)
- Reporting Period of 4/1/2022 - 6/9/2022
- $193.73 contribution from Hampton Roads Green Party
- $193.73 contribution from Hampton Roads Green Party
- Reporting Period of 6/10/2022 - 6/30/2022
- $100.00 contribution from Steffanie Aubuchon
- Please note: The following information was received by iVoterGuide after panel evaluations occurred and is for additional educational purposes only.
- Reporting Period of 7/1/2022 - 8/31/2022
- $144.00 in contributions from Jeff Staples for Delegate
- $500.00 contribution from Matthew Hoh for Senate
- Reporting Period of 7/1/2022 - 8/31/2022 (Amended)
- Reporting Period of 7/1/2022 - 8/31/2022
OTHER INFORMATION
QUESTIONNAIRE
RIGHT TO LIFE
Abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, should not be a resource for instruction or services in the school.
Neutral
With regards to religious entities such as churches, we should still allow them to share community resources such as food pantries or cloth closets. The same then would apply to organizations who provide abortions but also offer other medical services. For example, Planned Parenthood provides a plethora of healthcare services. We should then allow them to set-up in a school after hours to provide low-income health care for community members to utilize.
Human life begins at conception and deserves legal protection at every stage until natural death.
Neutral
I don’t follow the new testament belief that life begins at conception, nor do I agree with the old testament that it begins at birth. What I do know is that we need to do everything in our power to protect them until their death. Whether it’s continuing to combat early childhood mortality, or strengthening our existing programs for adoption and foster care. Everyone deserves the best possible life we as a society can offer.
ECONOMY
Free enterprise and the right to private property are essential elements of a productive economic system.
Strongly Agree
Some of the greatest innovations through history were scoffed at initially. It was only through the enterprise of those innovators who continued to push our society forward, enabling stronger economies, healthcare services, and general happiness. And lest we forget the importance of private property in this process. Besides it being a Constitutional right, without personal ownership those same individuals would’ve never had the tools to revolutionize the way our world functions.
School districts should be able to use taxpayer money for lobbying the state legislature.
Agree
Although funding is desperately needed for supporting our teachers & support professionals, I do believe some lobbying is necessary for working with the state legislature to secure additional school funding when the budget is in surplus.
What is your position on government funding of public education from Pre-K through college?
Public education has become a modern necessity in ensuring an educated populace that understands literature, our history, mathematics, and the basic sciences. More than that, it’s a place for our children to learn, grow, and figure out who they want to be in life. Education is just as much about academics as it is about personal growth. This is why it’s of the utmost importance that public funding is in place so that even our most economically disadvantaged youth can reap the benefits of an education. As such, adequate public funding must be in place at a local, state, and federal level to ensure that the right to an education remains. In Chesapeake, we’re only able to offer some of the best education services in the state, if not the nation because of the much needed funding we get from all levels of governments, enabling us to service the 40,000 students enrolled in our school system. Sadly, between state level budget cuts from the Great Recession and rapid residential expansion of the rural portions of our City, our schools have been slowly falling behind due to the lack of needed public funding. Now that we have a huge state surplus, we need to push our state to enact the return of school funding planned for 2020. Further, we must work with our City Council to ensure those developing our City pay their fair share for our public infrastructure without handing the costs on to the consumer.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
At school, students should be able to speak freely and civilly about matters of conscience and faith, including Christianity.
Strongly Agree
It’s a first amendment right. Whether students are discussing politics, faith, or any other personal belief so long as they’re not attempting to force it on others it should be encouraged. Part of the learning process is being able to understand different viewpoints in a civil manner.
School districts should not discriminate against individuals, organizations or small businesses because of their belief that marriage is only a union of one man and one woman.
Agree
So long as the entity isn’t lobbying for the constitutional right of a marriage to be limited, it doesn’t matter what their belief is. People are entitled to their beliefs, and it plays no problem right until they begin forcing their beliefs upon others. Our district shouldn’t enable individuals seeking to take anyone's rights away, but at the same time shouldn’t discriminate because someone feels differently for one reason or another.
Students should not be allowed to pray in school.
Strongly Disagree
This would otherwise be a violation of the first amendment. Students have every right to pray in school, so long as they aren’t forcing it upon others. The same goes for our teachers and staff so long as they’re not using their authority to pressure their students into joining in.
EDUCATION
What is the function of the local school board?
Ultimately we are to be active stewards and responsive managers of the school system for parents, students, staff members, and the community at-large. We must actively be searching out for problems in our school system to improve upon, whilst taking in feedback on existing programs that need to be expanded or kept.
Who should have the authority to set curriculum and determine resources used in those curricula?
There should be federal and state standards, but at the end of the day it should be a local, community effort. Parent’s, teachers, students, community members, and any relevant professionals must all have a voice in establishing curriculum and associated learning materials. We want to ensure that what is currently known to be true is taught, but we also need to ensure that our students are learning what is needed to succeed in life, to be active citizens in our nation, and be individuals who want to see the people of this country grow together.
When should parents be restricted from speaking in school board meetings?
The only time anyone should ever be removed from or restricted from speaking at a school board meeting is when they make threats or otherwise behave violently. Even then, these scenarios often occur because there are no other outlets for parents to voice their concerns or be a part of their child’s education. To play an active role in combating this behavior, whilst ensuring that democracy is at the root of how our schools are run, we must expand the outlets parents and the community at-large have in voicing their concerns and shaping public schooling. What this entails is establishing an at-large advisory committee, as well as school specific committees, consisting of parents, students, teachers, community leaders, and respective administration. Their objectives would be to assist the school/district in ensuring that information is shared in the most effective manner, that there is plentiful opportunity for the community to give input on important decisions like the budget or revisions to the dress code, and also bring concerns at a school/district levels to the appropriate individuals to ensure it is handled promptly and effectively. Further, this means bringing parents back into their children’s schools to witness first-hand their child’s education, while helping out school staff and teachers by reducing the workload. Additional benefits include allowing parents to better get to know the school’s teachers and share needed information to enable the teachers to best work with their students.
Please list in order the following priorities in relation to the role of a K-12 public school (omitting any that do not apply): Mathematics, Information Technology, Science, Political Activism, Personal Finances, Gender Identity, Physical Fitness, American History, Critical Race Theory, Language Arts, Art & Music, Vocational Learning, Sexuality, Foreign Language, Social Emotional Learning
Education is all encompassing, constantly falling back into other subjects. You can’t rank one over another because they’re all important to ensuring a child’s education is complete. Science can’t be taught without the mathematics needed to back it up, nor is it complete without understanding the history that enabled the discovery. A student will find it difficult to succeed in life if they don’t know how to get along with others, do their own finances, or find an in-demand job that they enjoy. Nor can they be a responsible citizen if they don’t understand American history and the importance of being politically active to express their personal views and opinions. Education isn’t any one subject, nor is it academic in nature. Education is tailored to the wants and needs of the student. It’s an open door for the student to decide, always having their parents and teachers to ask questions when figuring out the right fit.
American civics education should emphasize our nation's founding principles of liberty and equality.
Strongly Agree
Our students must understand how we got to where we are today if they are to play an active role in shaping society for the better. That begins before the start of the union, with a belief that all are created equal, deserving of a right to life, liberty, and happiness.
Before students are taught courses such as Comprehensive Sex Ed (CSE) or Social Emotional Learning (SEL), they must opt-in with written parental permission.
Agree
Parent’s should be made aware of when their child is going to learn a lesson that typically includes explicit contents to assist in the education process. We’ve required that for non-comprehsensive, abstinence-only sex ed in our school system. There is no reason why we should halt such an existing program.
The loss of local control in education is too high a price to pay in exchange for federal dollars.
Strongly Agree
Local autonomy is most important. Not federal or state control, but political and governing power starting at the local level. Grassroots administration is necessary for a strong democracy, with higher levels existing for the organization of state, regional, and national efforts.
I support the teaching of curricula (such as the 1619 Project, No Place for Hate, Second Step, etc.) that emphasizes slavery and racism as the foundation of American history.
Agree
My personal belief is that America is a great nation not because we’ve always been, but because we’re constantly working to identify injustices and improve upon them. For our children to understand what makes America special, it boils down to learning not just about our past, but the steps we’ve taken to combat the cross inequalities that we used to allow. Further, this education helps our youth to understand the importance of speaking out against inequalities in pursuing a more perfect union.
Parents are the ultimate authority in their child’s education and should be able to freely pursue whatever educational options they deem best for their child.
Agree
Parent’s should play an active role in their child’s education, but they must set a good example by allowing their child to safely explore their personal interests and goals. Parent’s should be second only to their child in select circumstances, such as class registration or school enrollment granted the child is old enough to play that active role.
VALUES
Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
Like many of our founding fathers, I don’t believe in any particular deity. What I do believe is that we should behave in the best way we possibly can, always seeking to help as many others as we can throughout the span of our lifetimes. One should do good for the sake of doing good, just as God would desire out of their believers. As such, I choose to live my life always prioritizing kindness and care towards those I interact with. There’s nothing more important to me than living a life of service for the people I care most about, or for helping society to become an easier place for everyone to live in. I also value the virtue of hard work in accomplishing these goals. Some of the most inspiring people I’ve met are those who will spend the few dollars they have on charity for others, and it’s something that I aspire to accomplish. Luxuries are great, but helping someone working 40+ hours a week afford gas money or helping a local nonprofit fund medical care for someone I’ve never met before is so much more valuable in moving our society forward.
I support allowing public high school students to participate in athletic competition based on the gender with which they identify instead of biological sex.
Agree
Sports is inherently about managing different advantages, such as limiting certain hormones like steroids. It’s about seeing who has the best natural advantages combined with advantages in time, effort, and money invested into becoming even greater. Some kids are born of athletic stars, others naturally have more of certain hormones. To deny a high schooler competing in the correct athletic sport is harmful to their wellbeing, not to mention a violation of their Constitutional rights.
Who is responsible for teaching sexual education to children, and what is the appropriate age when it should be taught?
Parent’s have the right to first speak to their children about sex before learning about it at school if they so desire. Afterwards, trained teachers should begin teaching the necessary basics when puberty begins for kids, becoming more complex and in depth as the student moves forward in puberty and develops.
If you support the teaching of Sex Ed, please answer the following question: Sexual education should include these topics (list all that apply and add your own, if needed) -- Physical and emotional health outcomes; contraceptive methods; consent; abstinence; sexual orientation and gender identity; human anatomy/the reproductive system; abortion methods and side effects; stages of pregnancy and fetal development; sex acts and pleasures of sex
Sex ed must include from the start the teaching of human anatomy & reproduction, physical & emotional health, and the normalcy of having varying sexual & romantic orientations as well as gender identity & expression. As the student matures and progresses through puberty, they should then learn more about what they’re learned previously, they should consistently learn consent, as well as pregnancy & fetal development, abstinence, contraception, and abortions. Starting in middle school, some students begin messing around sexually, with it increasing as they get closer to graduating high school. It’s therefore important that we teach them the consequences, as well as how to mitigate the consequences if they still pursue such acts. Even out of the school system, they’ll need to know about this information in order to prevent any accidents or mistakes from occurring that will create a negative toll on the individual.
Judeo-Christian values established a framework of morality that is necessary for our system of limited government.
Disagree
Although some beliefs may be common, morality varies from individual to individual. For some, it comes from their religious values while for others it comes from their personal experiences through life and what’s occurred to the people they care for. Ultimately, this nation was founded under the belief that no religion should rule the land, but rather it should be we the people who determine what should be our guiding beliefs.
No healthcare diagnosis or treatment, whether mental, reproductive, or otherwise, should be given to a child without first receiving written consent from the parent.
Agree
Both basic and life-threatening treatments should be given to a child without consent of the parent. Applying a band-aid when they accidentally get a paper cut or getting CPR done to be resuscitated should be done as needed without additional approval from others. Outside of that, parents should be consulted whenever their child is in need of a diagnosis or treatment.
No school official should be involved in the sexual transitioning of a student, including the use of alternative names and pronouns.
Disagree
No school official should play a role in the sexual transitioning of a child, that should be a matter between a doctor, child, and parent. However, our staff should use the proper name and pronouns for a student when requested. Aside from this being a violation of the child’s Constitutional rights under the 14th amendment, it further allows for a climate of bullying, disrespect, and mental harm for the child as they become their authentic self.
ELECTIONS AND VOTING
People should be able to vote without photo identification.
Choose not to answer
N/A
ABOUT YOU
Have you ever been convicted of a felony or been penalized in either civil or criminal court for sexual misconduct? If so, please explain.
No
A candidate's personal moral values should not be relevant when considering a candidacy for elective office.
Strongly Disagree
The values a candidate will have can often translate into the way they will act in office. Someone who has never had to work hard once in their life won’t fight for your rights when elected. Nor will someone prone to manipulation and lying be upfront and honest with you when they tell you their goals and objectives to accomplish on the school board. When electing someone to public office, their morals and values must be considered to ensure you’re electing someone who will fight for us.
When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to foreign policy and religious liberty, which of the following best describes you overall?
Moderate
I believe in ensuring that democracy is run at as local a level as possible, understanding the importance of higher governments for organizing programs that otherwise couldn’t be accomplished. I believe in preserving our Constitutional rights, including the right to life, liberty, and happiness.
Please provide publicly available information, including interviews and media reports, validating your answer to the previous question (other than your website).
https://www.wavy.com/news/local-news/chesapeake/chesapeake-school-board-adds-revisions-for-lgbtq-students-in-nondiscrimination-policy-updates-covid-protocols/ https://www.13newsnow.com/article/news/local/mycity/chesapeake/rally-support-transgender-students-chesapeake/291-2e37d9b0-0ca0-439a-99fb-9efca936e68b
Is there anything else you would like voters to know about you?
I’m a large proponent of focusing on the biggest issues facing our schools: mental health, supporting our staff, transforming our discipline system, and bolstering school security. Regarding mental health, we need to ensure that there are enough school psychologists, social workers, guidance counselors, and school nurses employed at each school to handle the needs of the student population. Further, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics we need to begin performing annual if not semi-annual mental health screenings of students starting at age 12, granted the district has parental approval. This further includes updating our current health curriculum to include the curriculum called “Eliminating the Stigma of Difference” which was tested in some Texas schools and found to be widely effective in helping students to identify symptoms of mental illness and seek appropriate resources to help them heal. Moving forward, the next best way to support our students is to ensure that we have enough quality teachers & support staff to assist our students throughout the learning process. To accomplish this, we need to begin by raising the starting salary to a competitive $60,000 a year for teachers and $40,000 base for support staff, with exceptions for substitute teachers, teacher assistants, and nurses who have higher pay options with higher education levels. Additionally, we must work towards expanding our existing benefits to include debt repayment plans, assistance with funding mortgages on new homes, competitive & regular bonuses to encourage retention, and returning funding for continuing education so that our educators are among the best in the nation. An additional way of making the teaching environment more favorable to attracting old and new teachers is by strengthening our current discipline system. The Oakland Unified School District currently has a spectacular system which has worked effectively to reduce disruptive actions that otherwise would have resulted in suspensions and expulsion. This plan seeks to prioritize educating our students how to communicate during disagreements and combat bullying through bridging understanding with conversation both to educate our youth how to interact outside of school but also to prevent harmful actions from continuing into the future. Similarly, our SRO’s should be phased out of internal security matters to be handled by onsite security. Instead, our SRO’s need to head up coordination efforts with local law enforcement. That includes transitioning our current school shooter drills to occur on teacher work days where police run through the school under different circumstances to practice different plans on how to respond to the crisis in the least time with the least casualties. This further enables our service men to respond on instinct instead of awaiting leadership to instruct them on what to do like we’ve seen time and time again during school shootings. However, in order to prevent this worst case scenario from even occurring, the SRO should also coordinate with school staff on an early threat detection program. The priority is given in this system to finding students who have fallen through the cracks and helping them to address whatever the issue is they’re facing in their school or personal life. This way, we’re helping students before they get to their worst point where they may choose to do the unthinkable of harming themselves and/or others.
2ND AMENDMENT
Teachers who are licensed to carry should be allowed to carry guns at school.
Strongly Disagree
Teachers aren’t trained to the same quality as our law enforcement officers. We need to invest instead in ensuring our local law enforcement can rapidly and efficiently respond to any dangerous situations that may arise at local schools within each precinct, unlike the failors we’ve seen at Uvalde, Parkland, and Columbine.
OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES
Under what circumstances (if any) should schools be allowed to require vaccinations?
Only when handling student populations that may be more at-risk, such as with younger kids who cannot get vaccinated or when working with immunocompromised students who could face life-threatening conditions if they catch a deadly pathogen. Aside from that, we should strongly encourage and make accessible the recommended vaccinations from recognized groups like the American Academy for Pediatrics, Center for Disease Control, and World Health Organization.
I support mask mandates.
Disagree
There was a time and place during the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic, but with the wide accessibility of vaccines and subsequent bolstering of herd immunity it’s necessity has dropped dramatically. Although masking should be encouraged among other measures to reduce the spread of respiratory illnesses, mandates are a tool to seldom be used.
