2020 NM Senatorial race: on Education

Bob Walsh: Taxpayers shouldn't help pay off existing student loans

A: Under no circumstance should taxpayers help pay off existing student loans.

Gavin Clarkson: YOU agree to pay back student loans, not the taxpayers

A: None. It's egregious to expect an auto mechanic who paid their way through technical school to pay off loans for someone who majored in art history and cannot find a job. When you agree to take out a loan, YOU agree to pay it back, not the taxpayers.

Mark Ronchetti: Give parents opportunity to choose the right public school

Ben Ray Lujan: Dismantle skyrocketing costs of higher education

Maggie Toulouse Oliver: Focus on best education within our public school system

"I've been raising kids and trying to get the best education for them within our school system, and contending with student loan debt and these issues that everyday New Mexicans deal with," she said.

Gavin Clarkson: Concealed carry in the classroom for select teachers

A: I'd support concealed carry in the classroom for select teachers and administrators.

Q: What other measures would you support to make schools safer?

A: After 9/11, we didn't go on a nationwide hunt to ban box cutters. Instead we made it harder to get them onto planes. Likewise with schools, we need to harden soft targets. Local school systems should be able to allow concealed carry in the classroom for teachers with proper training.

Gavin Clarkson: Constitution doesn't mention education, so keep feds out

A: Article I, Section 8 explicitly delegates specific powers to Congress. Altogether, the Constitution lists 30 to 35 (depending how they are counted), education is mentioned nowhere in the entire document. My position, and I think the position of our nation's Founding Fathers, is local control of local schools.