Tennessee – JC Bowman

Tennessee has Played a Seminal Role in Civil Rights

January 20, 2020 by JC Bowman, posted in JC Bowman, Leadership, Professional Educators of Tennessee, Students

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Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee in 1968, almost 52 years ago. Few know of the significance that Tennessee has played in Civil Rights. First, Tennessee played a pivotal role in the passage of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote in 1920. This year marks the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Second, Tennessee was at the forefront of Civil Rights and integrating America. We should remind ourselves of this history on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2020.

The groundbreaking 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was the case in which the Supreme Court Justices ruled unanimously that racial segregation of children in public schools was unconstitutional. It signaled the rightful end of the “separate but equal” principle outlined in the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case. The Ferguson case constitutionally allowed laws barring African Americans from sharing the same buses, schools, and other public facilities as whites — known as “Jim Crow” laws — and established the separate but equal doctrine that would stand for the next six decades.

Linda Brown, then a nine-year-old girl, became the face of the issue. Ms. Brown died at age 75 on March 25, 2018. Her national legacy in Civil Rights went far beyond public education. Brown said in a 1985 interview: “I feel that after thirty years, looking back on Brown v. The Board of Education has made an impact on all facets of life for minorities throughout the land. I really think of it in terms of what it has done for our young people, in taking away that feeling of second-class citizenship. I think it has made the dreams, hopes, and aspirations of our young people greater, today.”

Few people know the role Tennessee played in Civil Rights and public education. Avon Williams, Jr., a Knoxville, Tennessee native, became a cooperating attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in 1949 and began a long career in civil rights activism. In 1950, four years before the Supreme Court outlawed school segregation in Brown v. Board of Education, Williams filed Tennessee’s first public school desegregation suit such case when he sued to integrate the public schools in Anderson County, Tennessee. (McSwain v. Board of Anderson County).

Williams’ first cousin, Thurgood Marshall, was the chief lawyer for the Legal Defense and Educational Fund of the NAACP. Marshall later became the first African-American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Williams and Marshall worked closely on racial discrimination cases. Williams went before the Supreme Court seven times to argue cases involving discrimination in public schools, public housing or other public accommodations. In 1955, Williams, Marshall and Z. Alexander Looby, a fellow African American lawyer focused on civil rights, filed suit Kelley v. Board of Education against the Nashville city schools on behalf of African American children.

Looby and Williams were without a doubt the most prominent civil rights attorneys in Tennessee during their lifetime.

The Journal of African American History stated that “Looby and Williams’s work in school desegregation cases alone encompassed every major case in the state (with the exception of Northcross v. Board of Education) and entered the highest realms of legal activity. Federal judges at the circuit, appeals, and U.S. Supreme Court levels cited and considered many of their cases as the post-Brown v. Board of Education (1954) litigation world unfolded.”

In 1968, Avon Williams, Jr. was elected to the Tennessee State Senate. He was one of the first African-Americans to serve in that body since the Civil War. As a senator, he worked to put guidance counselors in elementary schools and to establish kindergarten classes in Tennessee. The state has a proud, but often untold history in Civil Rights, which greatly enhanced education in our state.

Racism, bigotry, and vitriol hate have no place in modern culture. All children are created in the image of God. Martin Luther King, Jr. poignantly stated: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Does character still matter? Of course, it does.

For centuries, our country has attracted people in search of a share of “the American dream” from all corners of the world. E Pluribus Unum (From Many, One) remains the national motto, yet it appears that there is no longer a consensus about what that should mean. If you step into our public schools today, the many different cultures are on full display.

Americans like Martin Luther King Jr., Linda Brown, Avon Williams, Alexander Looby, and Thurgood Marshall helped integrate America, and move the nation past the old paradigms and backward thinking that dominated our society. We need to remember and reflect on that history. More importantly, we need to fulfill our destiny as a nation where all citizens can realize the benefits of integration and equality of opportunity regardless of the color of their skin. The dream of Martin Luther King, Jr. did not die in Memphis in 1968, it is still alive in 2020.

JC Bowman is the Executive Director of Professional Educators of Tennessee, a non-partisan teacher association headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Problem with Restorative Justice

November 15, 2019 by JC Bowman, posted in Advocacy, Educators, JC Bowman, Leadership, School Safety, Students, Tennessee Education

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I grew up in the idyllic town of Cleveland, Tennessee. Nestled on the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. I was fortunate to be from a town that valued faith, family, and education. It was a quintessential life for an American boy.

I lived on Sycamore Drive growing up. I look back and see the kids I grew up with are all successful and thriving adults. It is an amazing story. It didn’t happen by luck.

I know most of the kids I grew up with had two-parent homes, both their parents worked jobs, and all of us lived in modest homes. Most went to church somewhere on Sunday. We were very much a blue-collar community. If there drugs and alcohol, we never saw it. (Although some of us had the occasional beer in high school.) The drinking age was 18 at that time. We listened to rock music. The go-to radio station early on was WFLI until KZ106 came along. The disc jockey we all listened to was Tommy Jett, who is now in the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame.

Education was a large part of our lives. The big question was: would you choose to go to high school in the city or the county. It was Cleveland or Bradley. That was the choice. No matter the choice, you were going to get a quality education. There was a high school in Charleston, on the northern end of the county. But that was not a choice for us. Besides, who would want to be a Panther, when you could be a Blue Raider or a Bear.

The teachers in our community schools shared the values of our community. You would see teachers at the grocery store or church on the weekends. The last thing you would want would be for Mrs. Miller or Mrs. Painter to see you at the grocery store with your mom and give a behavior report that was less than flattering.

That didn’t mean we didn’t get in trouble. We just knew that somewhere there was a line you didn’t cross, and if you did then your teacher and your parent would meet at the school or in public and the outcome would not be pleasant for you when you got home. Parents supported teachers. Teachers reinforced the values that we learned at home. It was a tag-team effort.

When we look today, we see so many teachers, parents and children disconnected. Society is being torn apart. Our culture is changing before our eyes. Children are raising themselves. Parents are out of the picture. Parents do not trust schools, and teachers are not supported by parents. Children do not listen to parents. Children do not listen to teachers. It is a problem.

The latest trend to tackle the issue in schools is Restorative Justice. If you listen to “experts” the objective is to reduce the number of suspensions. However, in these efforts to reduce suspensions, other students and teachers are left suffering. Often, Restorative Justice is not concerned with rehabilitating offending students, the objective is to merely reduce suspensions and avoid punitive consequences for student actions.

A frequent pattern of disruptive children being endlessly returned to the classroom without any actual change in their behavior is emerging. Schools have to be able to remove continually disruptive students from classes. Ideally, chronically disruptive students should be placed in high-quality alternative education settings where they can receive long-term, intensive interventions. We especially need to strengthen the authority of teachers who manage defiant students. The concept of Restorative Justice may be noble, but the implementation is often flawed and harmful.

Some of the other problems for this form of discipline to work include that all participants have to buy into the process. That is never going to happen. Schools, parents, and students are never going to be on the same page regarding student discipline. The concept is not supposed to be an alternative to punishment, which it has become. The objective should be behavior change, not just a reduction in student suspensions.

Student discipline should be designed to improve behavior. In that regard, there is not just one victim. It is not a student versus a teacher scenario, but rather a chronically disruptive student interrupting an entire class of fellow students. Should parents be made aware when their child’s class is constantly interrupted? Many educators think so. These other students are victims, as is their education. Restorative Justice proponents are seeking to make educators take even more time away from instruction to put in effort and time to deal with a chronic behavior problem. The modeled misbehavior could have a negative impact on other students who are deprived of instruction time. They may emulate this negative behavior for attention.

Perhaps I look at life in the simplest of terms. Where I grew up, misbehavior and defiant conduct would not be acceptable. Parents and teachers would work together to address any behavior problem. My parents would not be as concerned with my opinion of my behavior as they would be of a teacher’s opinion. There would be unpleasant consequences for continual misbehavior. I suspect all the children on Sycamore Drive in Cleveland, Tennessee all had similar experiences. We all turned out alright. That is real justice.

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.

Grow Your Own Teachers

October 18, 2019 by JC Bowman, posted in JC Bowman, Professional Development, Professional Educators of Tennessee, Tennessee Education

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Tennessee is a unique state, not only because we have the greatest citizens, but because of our geography. We border eight states, which can be both an advantage and a disadvantage at times. When economic times are good, people want to relocate to our state. When economic times are difficult, it allows residents to move to a neighboring state and pursue more money in their chosen occupation. In education, we lose teachers to our border states regularly.

Effective educator preparation remains critical to the future of education in Tennessee. When we lose teachers to other states, it hurts Tennessee. We must work on teacher retention and continue to offer suggestions on the front end. Also, we must work to have a pipeline of high-quality educators who can move into our classrooms.

We identified prospective solutions in our article Looming Changes in Student Teaching. In that article, we also identified that the existing teacher shortage – especially in special education, math, and science, and in schools serving minorities, low-income students, and English learners – will likely only increase, based on the predicted increase in the school-going population in the future. Colleges of Education must address how to serve Career & Technical Education (CTE). Areas such as business, agriculture, health, automotive, and mechatronics programs need high-quality teachers. Also, we should consider how to better build the skills of paraprofessionals who work alongside teachers in classrooms in critical roles.

One of the other innovative solutions we discussed in our article is one that Professional Educators of Tennessee has been working on with the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System (CMCSS). The district, in partnership with Austin Peay State University (APSU), has a cohort of 40 future teachers who will earn a free bachelor’s degree in only three years, become dual certified in a critical shortage area plus special education, and participate in a multi-year residency experience while being a full-time employed paraprofessional earning a salary, health insurance, and retirement contributions.

In addition, the district plans to partner with Lipscomb University to offer up to 20 future teachers a licensure program that includes a one-year full-time paid residency and dual certification (K-5 and special education) at no cost to the teacher. Through this initiative, these future teachers will also earn a master’s degree in this partnership between Lipscomb and the district. This solution will likely be replicated by districts across the state.

Cathy Kolb, state president of Professional Educators of Tennessee, has long advocated for and assists with the program to recruit and retain educators into public education classrooms. “We believe it is a win-win for our district and our students,” Kolb advises. I would echo the words of CMCSS Chief Academic Officer Sean Impeartrice, “This is the future of teacher recruitment and preparation.” Kolb believes this effort will help “ensure that quality educators enter and remain in the profession in the future.”

This is also a critical part of the agenda that Tennessee Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn wants to see expanded. Schwinn stated, “If you want to be an educator, you should be in Tennessee. We now have districts where you can get paid to become a teacher, graduate debt-free and be better prepared by spending multiple years in a residency under the mentorship of a great classroom leader,” stated Schwinn. “I look forward to replicating this innovative “Grow Your Own” model across the state.”

The Tennessee Department of Education will be hosting a “Grow Your Own” summit on Monday, November 4 for superintendents to share additional information and provide technical assistance for districts to build their own partnerships and models. We think it is imperative that the state continues to support districts in recruiting and better preparing future teachers, and the “Grow Your Own” partnership is a great new model.

We cannot afford to lose great teacher candidates across our borders. This may also necessitate some changes to teacher licensure. The Commissioner is correct: If you want to be an educator, you should be in Tennessee.
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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.

Find the Good and Praise It

September 22, 2019 by JC Bowman, posted in JC Bowman, Leadership, Professional Educators of Tennessee

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Critics like to point out some of the shortcomings of our education system, and we should welcome that debate. A one-size-fits-all system does not work for everyone; it never has and never will. The system will continue to evolve, albeit slowly, and adjustments will always be needed. We should always welcome discussion about public education, which is the highest priority in most communities throughout the state in our country.

My friend, Johnny McDaniel, the Director of Schools in Lawrence County, utilizes a slogan in his system that is inspiring and worth emulating: Find the Good and Praise It.” There is so much good to recognize in our state if we only look for it. Educators across Tennessee make a difference in lives every single day one child at a time. We should take a moment to pause to reflect and appreciate our accomplishments.

Since 2010 Tennessee has improved more than any other state according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), considered the nation’s report card. While our scores were indeed flat and even lost some ground in fourth-grade math during the last reported scores, it does not diminish the claim that Tennessee was the fastest improving state in the nation. Tennessee’s fourth-graders ranked 19^th in science, while eighth-grade performance ranked 21^st. Yes, we have more work to do. However, that was accomplished by the committed effort of educators and policymakers across Tennessee. We have had both hits and misses, but the herculean effort should be recognized. Our progress and momentum in Tennessee continue to move forward, and we are considered a national leader in student-focused education policy.

Tennessee’s high school graduation rate hit a record-high for the 2018-19 school year. That should have been in headlines across the state. The hard work of our students and teachers across the state is truly making a difference. The current rate is 89.7% and that is a remarkable development. Can we continue to improve? Yes. However, it is time we acknowledge the progress in preparing students for postsecondary education and the workforce. Graduation is the first step, and more Tennessee children are graduating from high school. That makes Tennessee an attractive place for the industry looking to locate in our state. A quality education system ultimately provides economic mobility for all of our citizens.

In August 2018, 59 percent of voters surveyed in a poll conducted by the State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) said students are not prepared for the workforce, and nearly half of voters said students are not ready for college. A majority of voters favored four specific readiness strategies: expanding access to post-high school education, more opportunities for students to earn industry certification, having a work-based learning experience, and better college and career counseling for every high school student. Governor Bill Lee and the Tennessee General Assembly are moving to address those issues in our state.

The recently passed Governor’s Investment in Vocational Education, also known as the GIVE Act, is designed to support regional partnerships among schools, industry, and technical colleges. This initiative is destined to develop more work-based learning and apprenticeship opportunities. It takes effect on July 2020. If implemented correctly, this should help prepare students for a good job right out of high school. This is a step in the right direction for numerous students across the state.

The reality is that college is not for everyone. It works for many students, but for others, this path is not the best choice. For many, the cost of a college education is too high, and too many young people are attending college and acquiring unnecessary debt—without graduating. We have been guilty too many times in public education of pushing college education exclusively, consequently shortchanging other career paths. Millions of young Americans are still paying the price. We now provide two years of tuition-free attendance at a community or technical college in Tennessee to our students through a program called the Tennessee Promise. In Tennessee, we are addressing college and career by leading the way nationally with Tennessee Promise and the GIVE Act. These innovative programs should be celebrated across the state.

Praise is a powerful tool; it is not used enough in our society. Criticism of things we do not like is an easier vehicle for too many. People in our world are looking for something to be mad about. Me? I am just looking for things to be happy about. Johnny McDaniel is on to something that we should all do more: “Find the Good and Praise It.”

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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.

Excellent Protection and Legal Services for Educators

July 23, 2019 by JC Bowman, posted in Educators, JC Bowman, Professional Educators of Tennessee, Tennessee Education

We live in a litigious society. As an educator or school employee, you should be keenly aware that professional liability insurance is critical because district coverage may not protect you individually. It is dangerous and potentially career-threatening if you enter a public-school classroom without liability or legal protection. Professional Educators of Tennessee handles legal issues in a positive, professional and confidential manner, without fanfare or publicity. Our members do not want undue publicity that can damage their case or their reputations. That is why you rarely read or hear about our members’ legal problems in the media.

Due to their unique role, educators face exposure to liability much greater than does the average citizen and therefore must exercise a higher duty of care than most professionals. Nearly every day teachers must deal with diverse laws related to issues such as child abuse, student discipline, negligence, defamation, student records, and copyright infringement. Tennessee teachers often cite professional liability insurance as a major reason for becoming a member, and rightly so. Professional Educators of Tennessee offers educators high-quality legal protection and professional liability insurance, at a fraction of the cost of labor unions. Our educators’ professional liability insurance is unmatched in Tennessee.

As an educator, you are also a consumer, and you expect and deserve quality services at an affordable price. Our dues at Professional Educators of Tennessee are currently $189. Contrast that with the roughly $600 or more that you are asked to pay for union dues and you will quickly realize not only cost savings but also more liability protection. We are less expensive because we are not part of a national organization – money collected is used on organizational goals and stays here in Tennessee. Politically, we are non-partisan. Your dues will never be utilized as political campaign contributions or to support social issue causes unrelated to education. That alone saves our members money Teachers’ unions engage in aggressive political partisanship and promote a wide-ranging social agenda on issues unrelated to education, often not reflective of the diverse political views of their broader membership.

Bad things happen to good educators every day. There are certainly increased risks for educators targeted by civil lawsuits. School districts are spending more on litigation costs and frivolous lawsuits. Educators need excellent liability coverage to cover inadvertent mistakes that could possibly happen. It’s is better to be proactive by being a member of Professional Educators of Tennessee, as countless teachers discover during the school year. In today’s society, false allegations can also occur, and with the prevalence of cell phones and social media, this has made educators even more vulnerable.

There are unnecessary lawsuits filed every year with allegations that have little basis in fact. The American legal system makes it easy to file a lawsuit regardless of the merit of the case. Unfortunately, public schools always will be susceptible to legal challenges, and we will never eliminate all lawsuits. That is why you need professional liability coverage so that you can focus on your job as an educator, and not matters out of your control. When allegations are made, or worse charges are filed, teachers may not be able to count on the backing of a school system or elected official. You need an organization to stand behind you, preferably one without a partisan agenda. Our legal resources, including attorneys who know education law are available to assist members with employment concerns. Our legal services team is a phone call away to answer any school-employment questions.

Only Professional Educators of Tennessee offers the peace of mind of $2 Million per member per occurrence, coverage for coaching, tutoring & private instruction, and up to $35,000 for Criminal Acts—and your coverage is never dependent on the discretion/pre-approval of a union boss, Access to your legal protection is not dependent upon whether your case is determined to be in the best interest of Professional Educators of Tennessee.

As with many professions requiring a state license, the teaching profession—like law and medicine—is governed by a code of ethics. This code outlines standards of personal and professional conduct that you, a member of the profession, must uphold. Violating a standard can have serious consequences for your teaching license. In addition, in 2018 the state added new laws regarding Teacher Ethics and Teacher Misconduct. Districts are now required to offer annual training in ethics. Our organization has partnered with the state to offer online ethics training to our members and other educators.

Unlike other organizations, where employment protection is discretionary, Professional Educators of Tennessee has no committee or group of people who will decide whether or not you will be represented should you face such an employment situation. This coverage saves our members thousands of dollars in legal fees every year and provides immeasurable peace of mind.

Our counseling philosophy is the best way to avoid having a situation escalate to a legal problem and only requires you to call us before the situation gets out of hand. It is very important to know your legal rights and responsibilities. Your membership with Professional Educators of Tennessee and our working relationship with you ensures your rights are not only realized but protected.

When you have a job-related legal question or concern that may have legal implications, make your first call to Professional Educators of Tennessee or email legal@proedtn.org. Speaking to an in-house attorney is the best and most efficient way to avoid having a situation escalate into a legal problem. It is critical that you know your legal rights and responsibilities. Your membership with Professional Educators of Tennessee ensures that you will be informed without delay. We are here to help and support our members.

Strike Out in Tennessee

March 18, 2019April 22, 2021 by JC Bowman, posted in JC Bowman, Professional Educators of Tennessee, Unions, Workforce

I have never been an advocate of strikes, particularly in the public sector. Beginning last year, and in recent days, several media outlets have contacted our organization about “teacher strikes” in Tennessee. Members of our organization have always believed that educators have the right to teach without being forced to join any particular organization, and that strikes or work stoppages are detrimental to children, parents, the community and the profession.

Strikes are rooted in the erroneous Machiavellian belief that the end justifies the means, it is also emphasized in the works by Saul Alinsky. Most educators understand the important role that our public schools play in society. In many cases, public schools offer the critical support necessary to maintain student health, nutrition, and safety, including students with severe intellectual disabilities and serious health conditions. This includes many children living in poverty, and those who are homeless. Professional activists and agitators that urge educators in our state to strike do not care about these children, and truth be told, have little concern for the professionals in our classrooms.

The former mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, an ex-union organizer wrote in a Washington Post editorial that a teacher strike hurts families and kids. He said: “under today’s circumstances, a strike isn’t what we need to improve our schools.” He is correct. A strike is a throwback to an archaic factory model of governance. More importantly, public servants usually have a higher expectation associated with their trusted role. Governing magazine’s Heather Kerrigan points out: “Teachers, firefighters, and police are the public workers who people feel a lot of empathy for because of the challenges of their job.” She adds: “I think that public opinion and tolerance level for public-employee strikes is probably fairly low.”

So, as you read or hear buzzwords like “collective action,” “sickout” or “strike,” remember that it is critical we avoid alienating the public. The old expression rings true: “don’t bite the hand that feeds you.” However, we can and must inform citizens through a more positive means about significant issues impacting our public schools and the children we serve. Educators do need to be more vocal about spending priorities at the federal, state and local levels. It is why educator associations like ours are vital, and why we have been engaged in the debate.

Tennessee has made tremendous investments in public education in the last decade. Not including new investments projected by Governor Bill Lee in his new budget, Tennessee added $1.5 billion in new dollars to public education from 2011 to 2019 under Governor Bill Haslam. There is still much more work to do. We must continue to invest in our educators and teacher assistants, and critical school staff, making sure those dollars reach their pockets. We must work to reduce testing and give districts other options to measure student achievement. We still need to work to create a simpler and more fair evaluation system. We must address student discipline issues that are spiraling out of control. We survey our members on a regular basis and these are issues of importance across the state according to educators in Tennessee.

However, it really does not matter our opinion about strikes: Teacher Strikes have been illegal in our state according to Tennessee Code Annotated (TCA) since 1978. In TCA 49-5-606., Unlawful Acts include that it is illegal for educators to engage in a strike. In addition, it is illegal to urge, coerce or encourage others to engage in unlawful acts as defined in this part. The next section of the law 49-5-60., Strikes – Remedies offers more clarity:When local boards of education have determined which employees have engaged in or participated in a strike, the employees may be subject to dismissal and, further, shall forfeit their claim to tenure status, if they have attained tenure, and shall revert to probationary status for the next five-year period. Any professional employee who engaged in, or participated in, a strike and who is not a tenured teacher may also be subject to dismissal.

Public education in Tennessee wins when we all work together through civil discourse to address our considerable issues. Education is the great equalizer for all children in the state. Passionate and effective teachers, principals, and superintendents must lead with creative solutions to problems, and not with outworn strategies from the industrial age. In the 21st-century, we must be policy driven, mindful of economic concerns, providing realistic answers to difficult challenges. Adversarial tactics spurred on by outside groups, with dubious agendas, simply will not benefit Tennessee educators or children.

Losing Our Best & Brightest Students

February 4, 2019April 22, 2021 by JC Bowman, posted in Advocacy, JC Bowman, Leadership, Tennessee Education

Nobody can dispute the fact we must increase the achievement levels of minority and low-income students. However, if that is our focus, the question we now must consider is: have we pushed some of our best and brightest students, including students of color, aside in the name of equity? What of our gifted low-income students? It is a discussion worth having, if we believe the answer is “yes.”

I go back to one of the first papers I ever wrote on this subject in college. My premise was, while we could not guarantee all children begin and end their formal education at the same level, we could guarantee all children have the same access to opportunities. Not all children have the luxury of having a nurturing home to grow up in, a proper diet, access to learning materials and a support network to help them. Unfortunately, that is the world we live in, and if truth be told it has been this way for a while. Intrinsically, motivation is a factor. Why do some children, even in the same family, excel and others not succeed? Do peer groups matter? What of external environments? Do the conditions of society impact our children? I think those answers are fairly common sense.

In a 2012 study, The Missing “One Offs”: The Hidden Supply of High Achieving, Low Income Students, economists Caroline Hoxby and Christopher Avery highlight the importance of the K-12 education years. It is critical that talented students from all backgrounds be identified and given support at this time in their K12 education. For example, China and India produce eight times more engineering students each year than the United States. Talented students cannot reach their full potential if we do not identify and develop them early. That is one advantage some countries do educationally better than we do here in America. On the other hand, most of these countries do accept or educate all of their children to levels that our students are afforded, due to limits they place on access to education. The question, I have always asked: why can we not do both? Let’s educate ALL children to their highest potential.

According to the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation research study Equal Talents, Unequal Opportunities: A Report Card on State Support for Academically Talented Low-Income Students: “ Year after year, in every state and community in our nation, students from low-income families are less likely than other students to reach advanced levels of academic performance, even when demonstrating the potential to do so.” In this study, Tennessee received a D+ from the Foundation. I am usually skeptical of groups and grades, and do not put much stock on groups offering external critiques of our education performance, but this study caught my attention, as it reinforced my belief, we are losing generations of children that fall through cracks in the system. Tennessee would likely fare better in an updated study, but it highlights the point: we must have the structure in place to identify and address talent development more effectively.

Bureaucratic challenges often hinder our educators from getting our students what they need. Some of the recommendations in the research included: 1) When releasing state data on student outcomes, ensure that the performance of high-achieving students is highlighted. 2) Remove barriers that prevent high-ability students from moving through coursework at a pace that matches their achievement level. This includes a range of academic acceleration options, such as early entrance to kindergarten, acceleration between grades, dual enrollment in middle school and high school (with middle school students able to earn high school credit), and early graduation from high school. 3) Ensure that all high-ability students have access to advanced educational services, including increased opportunities for dual enrollment and AP courses. We must track our best and brightest students better, and conduct professional development for educators in this area to help them identify and develop these students. Teachers and principals must have the freedom and flexibility to act on their best instincts to help all students. A new 2019 research brief from the Tennessee Education Research Alliance finds high-quality Tennessee principals less likely to serve poor and low-achieving students, which seems counter-intuitive to creating better schools.

There is no opposition to closing the achievement gap of minority and low-income students. We all understand that should and must occur. Perhaps we need an equal push for equality of opportunity, where we put ALL our children first. The statistics are telling us we are losing some of our very best and brightest students. Heidi Grant points out that “smart, talented people rarely realize that one of the toughest hurdles they’ll have to overcome lies within.” I would add that we do not make it easy for high achievers in public education, and it is time we start looking at that issue very carefully as well.

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New Year, New Leaders

December 31, 2018 by JC Bowman, posted in JC Bowman, Leadership, Professional Educators of Tennessee

A new year is a time for reflection and more importantly a time for hope. We will see a momentous change in state and federal government. If anything is certain, it is that leadership matters, now more than ever. When we lose ourselves in the service of others, we discover our own lives.

We know that leadership is not a position or a title, it is action and example. However, that caveat comes with this admonishment: “In order to lead, you have to know what you believe,” according to my mother, Linda Bowman-Lawhorn.

The federal government is likely to remain as divisive as ever. In Tennessee, we have some exceptional leaders representing our state in Washington, DC. However, our federal government is dysfunctional, and has been for a number of years. Partisanship has become an extreme contact sport in our nation’s capital. That is why states best serve as the laboratories of democracy for our nation.

Limited government, individual freedom, traditional values are likely to remain priorities in state government during the Lee Administration and the 111th Tennessee General Assembly which convenes on January 8th, 2019. The challenge for leaders will be practical and innovative approaches to complex problems. That may require we change the way people think about issues, and promote policies that allow and encourage individuals and institutions to succeed. The state has probably never had this much turnover in leadership and some people are justifiably concerned. However, I see that as an opportunity for leaders to thrive and make the greatest difference on behalf of our citizens.

In education we will need leaders from the Tennessee Department of Education, every local education agency and in each classroom that are tenacious in creating a world of opportunities for every learner. We must remember that our individual actions can positively (or negatively) impact the life of children in this state. The success or failure of the next generation of education leaders will mean real changes in the lives of students and their families. We must make the world better than the one we inherited.

Policymakers and stakeholders must collaborate to the greatest extent possible to ensure that our students succeed, and that our educators get the resources they need with the compensation and respect they deserve. Today’s children are tomorrow’s future, and education is a proven path to upward mobility for all students.

Embrace 2019 with zeal and enthusiasm. It can be a year full of potential. We have an opportunity to renew our belief in our fellow citizens and set a new course in Tennessee that our fellow Americans can seek to emulate. It will require ethical leadership and tireless advocacy for issues that you care about, but the promise of a new year brings the best hope for mankind. The future is yet to be written. Let freedom ring across our state and nation.

JC Bowman is the Executive Director of Professional Educators of Tennessee, a non-partisan teacher association headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.

Open Enrollment is a Choice

December 13, 2018April 22, 2021 by JC Bowman, posted in Advocacy, JC Bowman, Leadership, Legislation, Professional Educators of Tennessee, Tennessee Education

There is a growing focus on education choice across the United States, especially here in Tennessee. When you discuss parent choice, everybody immediately thinks of vouchers. Vouchers are only one form of choice. When you discuss school choice, the debate is unfairly focused between public and private. Terminology is constantly changing and evolving, and the words themselves create unnecessary conflict. Before we step further into the debate, I think there is one choice that is being ignored as an option: open enrollment or voluntary public school choice.

We must expand open enrollment policies in our public school districts. There are two primary types of open enrollment policies: 1) Intra-district enrollment policies, where students may transfer to schools within their home districts. 2) Inter-district enrollment policies, where students may transfer to schools outside of their home districts. Both are forms of choice.

Currently, Tennessee has voluntary intra-district and inter-district open enrollment policies. That may need to change, if districts do not get more aggressive in championing parental options in public education. Hopefully, that will be led by district leaders or school boards across the state. We need to make open enrollment a high priority.

Today, our workforce is highly mobile. Many adults no longer work in the community they reside. This is very clear in Middle Tennessee, which is exploding with population growth with more on the way. If we want parents involved in their child’s education, it would only make sense that public school options become more convenient for the adult who then often provides the transportation.

Currently, open enrollment policies may be either mandatory or voluntary. Under mandatory programs, districts must allow for open enrollment. Under voluntary programs, districts may choose whether to allow for open enrollment. It is easy to see that the direction by the state will be to move from voluntary to mandatory, if districts do not adopt open enrollment policies or do a better job of highlighting voluntary public school choice.

Questions that policymakers and the media should ask: 1) What districts in Tennessee allow students to transfer to schools within their home districts? 2) What districts in Tennessee do not allow students to transfer to schools within their home districts? 3) What districts in Tennessee accept students transferring to schools outside of their home district?

As the focus on education choice is elevated by Governor-elect Bill Lee, maybe the easiest place to find initial consensus is with open enrollment. Mandatory open enrollment policies will likely be promoted by the state. This could either be accomplished by funding, new legislation, or districts adopting new policies. Intra-district and Inter-district open enrollment policies must be on the table, when the subject of education choice is discussed. The message is that public schools are the best option for parents. Parents should be able to trust public schools to educate all children to the best of their ability.

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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.

Veterans Day 2018

November 11, 2018 by JC Bowman, posted in Holidays, JC Bowman, Leadership, Professional Educators of Tennessee

An unidentified Marine holds a flag and stares skyward at the U.S. Marine base after a massive bomb blast that destroyed the base and caused a huge death toll rising to 239, near Beirut airport, Oct. 23, 1983. The number of dead included 218 Marines, 18 Navy men and 3 Army personnel. (AP Photo/Mark Foley)

Tennessee is the Volunteer State. It is called the Volunteer State because in the times of crisis that our nation found itself, whether a natural crisis or in defense of our country, our citizens were the first to respond.

Members of my family have fought, and some even died, for the defense of our country. I am proud to have served in the Marine Corps and appreciate my fellow veterans. Anyone who has served will tell you it was an honor to wear the uniform of our nation and take the vows to defend our citizens, our country and our Constitution. Military enlistment has no expiration date.

This Veterans Day, in the year 2018, we must do more than repeat the well-deserved praises of the bravery and patriotism that our veterans embody. That was established the day they put on the uniform. Rather, we should reflect on how we are treating our veterans.

We know that the average number of veterans who commit suicide remains at 20 a day. We know that younger veterans are among that number. Suicide is a complex issue, and veterans are not getting the help they need. Why is this not a national priority? It is good political rhetoric during campaign season.

A lot of veterans end up teaching in Tennessee classrooms across the state. For them teaching is an extension of their service to their state and nation. Our classrooms are full of children who are the sons and daughters of active duty military and veterans. Tennessee has more current and former military among our citizenry than most states. So, on this Veterans Day let us remember the service of our veterans. Let us keep our promises and obligations to our veterans and their families who have sacrificed so much so we can live freely.

Veterans who are in crisis or are having thoughts of suicide, and those who know a Veteran in crisis, should call the Veterans Crisis Line for confidential support 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year at 800-273-8255 and press 1, chat online at VeteransCrisisLine.net/get-help/Chat, or send a text message to 838255.You can learn more about VA’s suicide-prevention resources and programs at www.mentalhealth.va.gov/suicide_prevention.

Our veterans have served America with the fervent belief that freedom and democracy are ideals to be upheld around the world. The late Virginia Senator John Warner reminded us: “Tragically, the effort to make America and the world safer and to defend freedom around the world is not without an enormous cost to this Nation in terms primarily of lost lives and those who bear the scars and the wounds of war, and their families who must bear these losses. “It is time we make those who serve our state and nation a higher priority.

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