Category: JC Bowman

Thoughts on Testing

by JC Bowman, posted in Advocacy, JC Bowman, Leadership, Professional Educators of Tennessee, Tennessee Education, Testing, Unions

tnready1

In April, 2018, Professional Educators of Tennessee raised the issue on Testing, with a hard-hitting editorial called the Trouble with Testing. Now the Superintendents of two low performing districts, Shelby County and Metro-Nashville Public Schools are eliciting media attention by challenging testing across the state. Welcome to the club.

Testing has taken a wrong turn in public education. I have always tried to keep it simple: testing is like your school picture; it is what you look like on that particular day. Kids go in to take a test. Teachers show up to make sure kids are taking their own test. Parents encourage their children to do their best. However, like Ozzie & Harriet, Leave it to Beaver, and the Lone Ranger, those days are gone.

With an infusion of $501 million federal dollars of Race to the Top money we hurried to increase standards by adopting Common Core, which was soon corrected by moving back to state standards. We then increased testing, changing both format and frequency. Tennessee also adopted new evaluation methods. The teachers’ union supported the incorporation of TVAAS data into the state’s teacher evaluations, which landed Tennessee $501 million from the federal Race to the Top grant in 2010. Professional Educators of Tennessee did NOT support the use of that data on teacher evaluations, nor did they sign a support letter on the original grant submission.

Not everything Tennessee tried was damaging, but it is not debatable that, thus far, the Age of Accountability has failed students, teachers, parents and taxpayers. Since 2012, Tennessee has had one misstep after another in testing. In 2013, our tests were not aligned to our standards. In 2014, the issue was transparency, notably quick scores and test score waivers for final semester grades were the major issue. In 2015, the new TNReady online tests had issues in the post equating formula. In 2016, we fired the vendor, Measurement, Inc. because after the online platform was botched, they were unable to get out a paper version of the test. In 2017, we were again plagued by issues due to scoring discrepancies. This year 2018, had issues related to testing, including the belief by the testing vendor, Questar, that the Questar data center was under attack from an external source, although it is never thought that any student data was compromised.

At no point since 2012 were any of the testing issues the fault of students or educators. However, for educators, they are often the ones who bear the brunt, quite unfairly, of parental anger. Students also suffer, with everything from loss of instruction time to not understanding their educational progress. When we make education decisions on the basis of unreliable or invalid test results, we place students at risk and harm educators professionally. This is especially unfair to the hardworking teachers in our state. To policymakers and stakeholders alike we must ask these questions:

  • Why are we relying so heavily on test scores to make important educational decisions about students, teachers or schools, especially when the process is flawed? For example, when officials thought the Questar data center was under attack from an external source, there should have been no greater priority by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to identify and prosecute those individuals guilty of this activity and confirm that no student data was compromised. Fortunately, there was no attack.

  • Should we question the reliability, validity, and accuracy of testing in Tennessee since 2013? Especially when shifting between online to paper tests? Note: Reliability relates to the accuracy of their data. Reliability problems in education often arise when researchers overstate the importance of data drawn from too small or too restricted a sample. Validity refers to the essential truthfulness of a piece of data. By asserting validity, do the data actually measure or reflect what is claimed?

In Tennessee we appreciate straight talk and candor. We unquestionably detest hypocrisy. We understand mistakes are made by individuals, by companies and even by our government. We are not pointing fingers, just stating a fact. Clearly there is a problem with testing in Tennessee. It isn’t our students or our educators. It is a flawed testing system.

Shawn Joseph and Dorsey Hopkins timed the announcement of their joint press release well. A sitting group of mostly outgoing legislators were at the Capitol at the time to discuss education. It is also political season. Their joint letter will momentarily take the attention away from their own issues. However, we welcome the discussion. Unfortunately, simply offering the much-ballyhooed solution of another “blue ribbon” panel to discuss the testing issue is a mere diversion. For teachers, thank Race to the Top which was supported by the previous Superintendents of Shelby County and Metro-Nashville Public Schools and the teachers’ union. I wish both men had offered a solution. We will help you out- Eliminate TVAAS data from teacher evaluations. That would an enormous leap forward.

##

JC Bowman is the Executive Director of Professional Educators of Tennessee, a non-partisan teacher association headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author and the association are properly cited. For more information on this subject or any education issue please contact Professional Educators of Tennessee.

Time to Separate PACS from Lobbying

by JC Bowman, posted in Advocacy, JC Bowman, Leadership, Legislation, Professional Educators of Tennessee, Tennessee Education

img_20180422_212449-1394880902.jpg

How is it possible to separate organizations’ campaign contributions from their lobbying activities? It may not ever be possible.  Political Action Committee (PAC) is a term for a political committee organized for the purpose of raising and spending money to elect and defeat candidates.  Numerous groups that have a PAC do not have a lobbyist, and many groups that have a lobbyist do not have a PAC.  Perhaps it should be an either/or option and get the political donations completely out of policy issues.

The prevailing opinion is that campaign contributions are integral to lobbying efforts and buying access to elected officials.  Have we really sunk to that level in America?  Nashville?  Lobbying and contributing to political candidates should be completely unrelated activities.  Perhaps the state comptroller should investigate the relationship between PAC donations to specific legislators and the amount of time their lobbyists spent with those legislators. It should reveal interesting findings.  It should also be clear how much lobbying effort was directed at the legislative branch and how much was directed at the executive branch, and those political donations as well.  This would be the only way to measure the extent to which contributions really affect the way that policymakers allocate their time, and whether money as a political resource magnifies and perpetuates political inequalities.

Even though it is an ugly secret, there is little doubt that some organizations obtain votes by making campaign contributions.  Thus, lobbying strategies become dependent upon campaign donation strategies.  What transpires in the meetings between legislators and interest groups with PACs can be a matter of inference and speculation.  However, what is not supposition is that legislation favored by those who contribute political donations succeed on a regular basis. Many politicians also form PACs as a way of raising money to help fund other candidates’ campaigns. A common occurrence is money gets funneled to Candidate A via Candidate B, by other special interests or PACS through this method.   Follow the money.

In reality, groups that command non-monetary resources valued by policymakers —policy expertise, access to voters, and influence may be more important than a campaign check.   As labor unions have seen their influence decline, they could likely discover it to the fact they are spending less on lobbying, and more on political giving.   There are smaller victories, and they are having to write bigger checks to secure even those.  It will only escalate and union dues will increase.  The lesson here is obvious.

Clearly, we believe issue advocacy is good, and it is a First Amendment right to express an opinion to policymakers.  We also have no problem with people making political contributions to the candidates of their choice.  What we would like to see is a clearer separation between these two activities, with better monitoring.  Are political campaigns on behalf of candidates engaging in illegally coordinated activities with PACS?  Nobody can be certain.  Should PACs be forced to immediately disclose their donors and campaign expenditures?  Should people who have PACS be required to register to lobby?  It is essential that citizens know who is financing policymakers’ elections.

Professional Educators of Tennessee will continue to lobby for public education.  However, we will never endorse political parties or candidates as an organization on behalf of our members.  We also do not have a PAC, nor do we plan to ever start one.  It would harm our effectiveness.  We must advance public education without the divisive tribalism of partisan politics, and we will only get involved in education related issues.

##

JC Bowman is the Executive Director of Professional Educators of Tennessee, a non-partisan teacher association headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.  Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author and the association are properly cited. For more information on this subject or any education issue please contact Professional Educators of Tennessee.

 

Gordian Knots & Godfathers

by JC Bowman, posted in Advocacy, JC Bowman, Professional Educators of Tennessee, Unions

The Godfather Logo

When the Janus Decision came out we knew that the unions would pull out all the stops to keep from losing members.  This is very much true.  In Tennessee, the National Education Association (NEA) affiliate is one of their least profitable and losing members the quickest according to this 2016 article.   The latest tally may even bode graver for the union affiliate.  In Tennessee, the union affiliate has lost a self-reported 34.3% of their active members.

The NEA employs more than 500 people at its Washington, D.C., headquarters; the average salary is $123,613 plus benefits.  All told, NEA’s payroll for 2016 was just over $68.6 million for 555 employees — an average of $123,613 per worker.  By comparison, the average 2016 teacher salary of $58,353.  Tennessee teachers earn much less than their national counterparts.  It is unknown what teacher union bosses earn here in Tennessee, or how lucrative are their benefits.

Mike Antonucci, the foremost expert on teacher unions in the United States wrote a detailed article The National Education Association — a $1.6 Billion Enterprise With a Red-Ink Problem.   Antonucci wrote: “NEA and its affiliates are cumulatively in what accountants call balance-sheet insolvency. In consumer terms, it’s as if your mortgage and credit card debts are larger than your net worth, but you can still make your monthly payments because you haven’t lost your job.”  Whether or not that is the case in Tennessee is not known.

Recently, two candidates for Governor, Beth Harwell and Craig Fitzhugh were endorsed by the National Education Association affiliate in their parties primary.  Both lost decisively at the bottom of their primary.  In fact, the union squandered significant dollars in losing efforts across the state.  This is very problematic for all teachers who get painted with the liberal brush of union politics across the state.   The candidates who won will likely not look favorable upon public education after being targeted by the teacher union.  And it makes our jobs even more difficult.

The Tennessee Star correctly pointed out at the time of the Harwell endorsement: “high opposition to TEA money and influence among likely GOP primary voters, Republican candidates who have accept financial support and endorsements from TEA can certainly expect their opponents to use that information in campaign attack ads — if they are considered to be competitive.”  Republicans like Barry Doss and Tim Wirgu who took the teacher union money lost, and Gary Hicks narrowly won.  State Senator, Ken Yager, received $5,000 to his political action committee, Keypac.

However, political donations only tell part of the story.  In Tennessee, high priced strategists and companies also were paid significant dollars from the union PAC:  Counterpoint Messaging, Spry Strategies, Direct Mail Services, DirectFX, Graphic Creations were among them.  The Heartland Accountability Project in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa received $44,000.  Heartland targeted Senator Brian Kelsey, Senator Todd Gardenhire and Senator Reginald Tate in the past.  Heartland Accountability Project is listed as a client of Evolution Strategies, along with the National Education Association and Phil Bredesen.  It is an interesting circle.  Follow the money.  Then draw your own conclusions.

Teachers unions consistently rank among the top spenders on politics. Their goal is not improved public education, but rather power, money, and influence.  Leo Doran a reporter for InsideSources wrote in How Liberal Politics and Teachers’ Unions Got So Entangled: “Experts long active in the upper echelons of education research and policy-making say that the politicization of the teachers’ unions has gotten more intense in recent years.”  Doran then adds about the teacher unions that the structure of the unions “make their lobbying platforms susceptible to mission creep. The end result, however, is a Gordian knot of politics and labor battles that have ensconced the teachers’ unions…”

For groups like Professional Educators of Tennessee, it is simple.  We must advance public education without the divisive tribalism of partisan politics, and we will only get involved in education related issues.  The union never stops in its quest for power and control over public education.  We must keep that from happening.  In the movie, The Godfather, Don Vito Corleone lets someone know that the man is now in the Godfather’s debt.  He tells the man, “Someday, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me.”  If a candidate for political office takes political donations from the union, assume they are bought and paid for.  The question is:  when will the politician have to pay the debt?

##

JC Bowman is the Executive Director of Professional Educators of Tennessee, a non-partisan teacher association headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.  Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author and the association are properly cited. For more information on this subject or any education issue please contact Professional Educators of Tennessee.

Race to the Top in Tennessee History

by JC Bowman, posted in JC Bowman, Tennessee Education, Unions

Race to the Top 2

Gov. Phil Bredesen of Tennessee, a Democrat, said in an interview that Republicans like former Senator Bill Frist had contributed a lot to the state’s proposal, but that his own role in persuading the Tennessee Education Association, a teachers’ union, to sign on had been important, too.

I was able to get the T.E.A. to accept some things that probably a Republican wouldn’t have gotten done,” Mr. Bredesen said.

Source New York Times

 

Drive Safely.

by JC Bowman, posted in JC Bowman

IMG_20180806_094931

School is starting back. That means school zones will be active with children. School buses will be loading and unloading. So please be alert, keep your eyes open for children, flashing school zone and school bus lights. Drive safely and remember the safety of our kids.

Dream On

by JC Bowman, posted in Advocacy, Educators, JC Bowman, Leadership, Legislation, Parents, Professional Educators of Tennessee, Students, Tennessee Education

Every child should have a dream for their future.   Not knowing who or what we want will lead us to becoming someone and something we never wanted to be.  As parent or as an educator the greatest gift we give children the belief that if they work hard they can be anything they want to be in life.  Of course, we all struggle at times to figure out just what it is we want out of life.

A brighter future starts with a quality education and giving children everywhere the tools and support they need to find success in school and in life.  America is understood to be the home of possibility.  The World Economic Forum estimates that 65 per cent of children today will end up in careers that don’t even exist yet and for which schools are not preparing them. Unfortunately, our school system is built on a model more linked to the industrial age, than the digital/technological age.

Two education entrepreneurs Kanya Balakrishna and Andrew Mangino launched a website called the Future Project to reach 50 million students across the country they say are at risk of never discovering their full potential.   Their focus is to encourage kids to dream.  They believe that dreams inspire learning – “not the sort of rote, superficial learning that will help students pass state standardized tests” but rather “real learning that inspires deep, meaningful, life-changing mastery and purpose.”  This kind of learning, they believe, will inspire “positive change both for the individual and their community.”  It is an intriguing idea that deserves discussion.

Educator Sean Hampton-Cole offered up that he had a “dream that within our lifetimes, personal enrichment, critical analysis, creative output and purposeful problem-solving will be considered at least as important as factual recall in education.”   We need art and music in our culture.  Unfortunately, we are neglecting those subjects in our schools.  President Ronald Reagan struck a similar note in speaking about the humanities in 1987: “The humanities teach us who we are and what we can be,” he said. “They lie at the very core of the culture of which we’re a part, and they provide the foundation from which we may reach out to other cultures. The arts are among our nation’s finest creations and the reflection of freedom’s light.”

Art and music programs are likely to be among the first victims of budget cuts in financially-stretched school districts already fighting to meet other academic demands, and they are rarely restored.  The College Board, found that students who take four years of arts and music classes while in high school score 95 points better on their SAT exams than students who took only a half year or less (scores averaged 1061 among students in arts educations compared to 966 for students without arts education). It is important for policymakers to understand that art, music, and literature improve problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.

This is exactly what the World Economic Forum revealed that business executives were looking for in future employees.   Their number one response? Complex problem solving. Other skills on their top ten list included critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and emotional intelligence.  Literacy, numeracy and scientific knowledge will always be essential.    Policymakers and stakeholders alike need to understand that arts and music are vital in promoting, educating and developing our youth to excel and reach their dreams.  President John F. Kennedy reminded us: “I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we too, will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics, but for our contribution to the human spirit.”

In her book, Not For Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities, Martha Nussbaum argues that arts education, under threat all over the world, must be embraced because it supplies the skills needed to nurture true democratic citizens. Education must nurture the whole child, and arts are vital in this endeavor. Nussbaum contends that it is vital for our children to have critical and hands-on engagement with art, music, and literature, all of which help foster our basic humanity — creativity, critical thinking, and empathy for others. Cultivating these values, she argues, are the deeper purposes of education.

Seth Godin takes it a step further in Stop Stealing Dreams when he writes: “Have we created a trillion-dollar, multimillion-student, sixteen-year schooling cycle to take our best and our brightest and snuff out their dreams—sometimes when they’re so nascent that they haven’t even been articulated? Is the product of our massive schooling industry an endless legion of assistants? The century of dream-snuffing has to end. The real shortage we face is dreams, and the wherewithal and the will to make them come true. We’re facing a significant emergency, one that’s not just economic but cultural as well. The time to act is right now, and the person to do it is you.”

This generation of educators have to be the ones to restore the dream of our students.  It isn’t just about education reform or public education reimagined.   There is a coming education revolution. We must ensure each child, in every school, in all communities are healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.  This will require the kind of teaching to prepare students to become creative problem solvers who can take initiative and responsibility.  To paraphrase Steven Tyler:  When we look in the mirror.  The lines are getting clearer.  The past is gone.  Dream On.

##

JC Bowman is the Executive Director of Professional Educators of Tennessee, a non-partisan teacher association headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.  Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author and the association are properly cited. For more information on this subject or any education issue please contact Professional Educators of Tennessee.

Exposed in a Technological Age

by JC Bowman, posted in Advocacy, Bullying, Educators, JC Bowman, Professional Educators of Tennessee

jc ed background

We are now the most photographed generation in history.  Many times, these pictures are made without the explicit permission of the people depicted.  Cell phones have made cameras a key feature, and many of these cameras are better quality than the best cameras of the past. Smartphones are also very capable video cameras.  Some professionals are shooting commercial grade videos and even some feature films on these devices.

Since almost everything can be instantly recorded, with multiple angles of the same event, any story can be altered producing more questions than they answer.  A different view, a different angle changes the whole story.  Videos may not always be what they seem.  Then these pictures and videos show up online across different platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, Google+, Wikipedia, personal blogs and even more.  Subjects like voyeurism, privacy laws, freedom of media, and surveillance are now issues we are forced to debate.  Technology has drastically changed the way we use information and communicate with one another.

Our words are not immune either.  Once words are said, can be only forgiven, not forgotten.  And when they are recorded, either in print or in audio or video, they can frequently be quoted, but usually misquoted.  Taken out of context, our unguarded words can be misused and used against weapons against us.  We have seen decades old comments surface and hurt the people who uttered the comments, both fairly and unfairly.  It is the age we now live in.  While secret recordings are rarely a good idea, people must also understand they do not always have an expectation of privacy.  We now live in a dangerous world created by our own words and modern devices.  Add social media to the mix and words you write today could come back and haunt you many years later. We are truly exposed in this technological age.

An old and wise saying challenges us to: “Believe nothing you hear, half of what you read, and some of what you see.”  It is critical to examine issues from all angles, rejecting gossip, mistruths, bias or information not supported or misinterpreted.  Put what you see or read into proper context to make sure what you think you are seeing is factual.  Too often social media will portray people falsely and in a highly offensive manner.  The entire purpose of some is to create a false impression and injure your reputation. You may need to review the pertinent laws and likely consult with an attorney in some cases.

Schools have been forced to consider cell phone usage policies. Students have used camera phones for nefarious purposes, from exposing teachers for inappropriate comments to taking or viewing pictures of tests in order to cheat on an exam.  Many of these recordings end up on social media.  We have had educators defamed by tech savvy parents and students.  Professional Educators of Tennessee has had to intervene on their behalf.  Fortunately, most school districts work with our organization to protect educators.  In one case, a parent, unhappy with their child’s very deserved grade, targeted the business of a spouse of an educator on social media.  School districts need to keep current policies and update them as technology changes.

This too raises the legal question: can educators and administrators search student phones in order to find incriminating text, photo, and video content?   Technology-related debates will probably only escalate.  It may soon be a smart option for educators to simply just record themselves teaching during the school day in order to protect their image and reputation.   It is a sad reality but that is where we have come as a society. Educators should behave as though they are always being recorded. This is the technological age we now live in.

##

JC Bowman is the Executive Director of Professional Educators of Tennessee, a non-partisan teacher association headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.  Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author and the association are properly cited. For more information on this subject or any education issue please contact Professional Educators of Tennessee.

A Few Thoughts on Educational Assessment and Evaluation

by JC Bowman, posted in JC Bowman, Leadership, Professional Educators of Tennessee, Testing

jc ed background

At Professional Educators of Tennessee we view assessment of students much like a school picture.  It may not be an accurate depiction, but it is what the student looks like on that day.  Our position has always been that the fewer tests administered to students would equal less disruptions for students and teachers. We have worked with the Tennessee Department of Education toward this objective.  We feel like progress has been made and will continue to work with them and the next governor toward this sensible objective.

The 2018 TNReady student assessment results showed mixed results, but state leaders saw encouraging areas of progress, and we celebrate that success.  The majority of the 650,000 students who took the assessment this year did so on paper, but about 300,000 students took the test online.  Students improved most in early grades reading, and narrowed achievement gaps.  In addition, the results show a need for deeper, more sustained work to support improvement.  The release of the results of the latest statewide assessment, while flawed, do provide a data point for educators to consider.  We encourage them to look at the results, take the result seriously and consider the steps they need to take to help all students and schools succeed.

In general, we must always be careful in determining teacher performance based strictly on the test scores of students to whom the teacher is assigned during a school year. The risk of misidentifying and mislabeling teacher performance based on test scores is too high for it to be the major indicator of teacher performance, especially when you look at issues such as student demographic characteristics. A number of states, including Michigan, have since taken steps to lessen the impact test scores have on teacher evaluations, repeatedly mentioning factors outside an educator’s control which can influence a student’s academic performance.  The interaction between teacher and student is the primary determinant of student success.

Moving forward, it is worth noting that Dr. Bill Sanders, the creator of value added assessment, warned of the misuse of TVAAS for individual teacher data because of its volatility.  We would certainly remind policymakers of this detail. In fact, classroom observations by trained personnel, along with teacher and principal input, would likely produce far more consistent and reliable data for assessing the quality of teaching than scores on an annual assessment. Assessment outcomes cannot be viewed as a reliable or significant indicator of Tennessee student proficiency until we have consecutive years of stable test delivery in which students and educators are confident.

We look forward to continuing the dialogue with policymakers and working with all stakeholders toward creating a better framework for both educator evaluation and student assessment in Tennessee.  We have proven as a state that we are willing to be innovative and now we have the opportunity to get it right. We are committed to working with stakeholders to improve implementation of state assessment so that parents, educators, and policymakers can continue to know how our students are faring each year.  As we build on our success, and we need to move forward together.

– – –

JC Bowman is the Executive Director of Professional Educators of Tennessee, a non-partisan teacher association headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.  Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author and the association are properly cited. For more information on this subject or any education issue please contact Professional Educators of Tennessee. 

Merging Education & Labor is a Bad Idea

by JC Bowman, posted in Advocacy, JC Bowman, Legislation

President Donald Trump’s latest idea is to merge the U.S. Department of Education with the Department of Labor. This reflects his administration’s priority on workforce readiness and career development. Taxpayers understand the need to reduce federal spending, merge duplicate programs, and improve support for retraining and employment. The United States House Committee on Education and the Workforce is an example of the government already combining the two functions under one entity. So, the concept is not that far-fetched.

In their book, “Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses,” Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa studied twenty-four hundred college students at twenty-four different universities over a four-year period. They reported that critical thinking and other skills such as writing were no longer progressing during college as compared to previous generations of students. This is really no surprise. However, America’s educational competitiveness is still unparalleled. We tend to focus on our weaknesses, rather than leveraging our inimitable strengths.

Society has long cherished the ability to think beyond the ordinary, according to Samuel Greengard. What happens when we lose that ability? Organizational stupidity is a phrase that comes to my mind. Adrian West added: “Developing our abilities to think more clearly, richly, fully—individually and collectively—is absolutely crucial [to solving world problems].”

It is important to note that creativity is a unique talent that cannot be taught straight out of a textbook. We are rapidly losing our ability to think creatively; in addition, music and art are often no longer valued. Grace Fearon of the The Independent suggests: “our society seems capable of praising and glorifying our child intellects, aspiring doctors and academics, yet the value of a student possessing a gift for writing, or music, or art appears demoted in comparison.” In a state like Tennessee, with a cultural legacy like Memphis and Nashville and other places, Music and Art are the business. We cannot lose that edge.

The real question to ask then: Do we think the well-meaning bureaucrats at the Department of Labor, will be more or less inclined to educate the whole child, or would they focus more on developing a productive workforce? There is a vital need for apprenticeship programs, job training programs, and a united focus on keeping the American workforce employed.

Bringing businesses and educators together to ensure high-quality classroom instruction and on-the-job training is a win for everyone, right? Except we are not creating widgets for factories. Many of the jobs our children will have may not even exist now. We cannot possibly provide the training for all the jobs that may exist in the future, we have to teach kids to think, to create, to make. Do you really think the Department of Labor is the vehicle we need spearheading this type of education? We must make sure that those who understand educating the whole child benefits all of us in the long term.

President Trump’s concept lacks significant details and will be difficult to maneuver through a deeply divided Congress. Our guess is that a merger between the U.S. Department of Education with the Department of Labor will not happen. Let’s hope we are correct.

*********

JC Bowman is the Executive Director of Professional Educators of Tennessee, a non-partisan teacher association headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author and the association are properly cited.