Rachael Maves: Hi everyone, you are listening to the Rachael Maves podcast and I am Rachael Maves, your host. Today, we are speaking with JC Bowman. JC is the executive director and CEO of Professional Educators of Tennessee, bringing nearly 40 years of experience in education. He began his career as a high school teacher in Tennessee and later served as chief policy analyst for Florida Governor Jeb Bush, where he helped revise the state school code. Since 2011, he's led professional educators with a focus on policy and legislative priorities, which is where our paths cross, while also contributing regularly as a speaker and writer. On top of all of that, he is also a Marine Corps veteran with two?

U meritorious. Promotions. JC lives in Nashville with his wife, Bethany, who's lovely and a proud is a proud father of two adult daughters and six grandchildren. JC, thank you for joining me today.

JC Bowman: Yeah, what an honor to be with you. Good to see you again and, you know, just spend a few minutes with you. I mean, you're a remarkable person and you're so personable and you know, I hope people take the opportunity to get to know you.

Rachael Maves: [speaker uncertain] Thanks, Rachael. I really appreciate that.

Rachael Maves: I We always start our podcast off with kind of the stories and wanting to hear about why people chose education. So, I'd love for you to kick us off with. That. Why did you choose a career in education?

JC Bowman: Yeah, that's a that's a real interesting thing. I mean, for me, you know, I started out, I was a big history guy and so I started out in history and, and so I was in the Marine Corps and my unit was the unit that went to Beirut, Lebanon, and got they were the ones that were in the bombing in Beirut. And so for me, you know, I felt like an obligation to give something back to society, and I wasn't sure, you know, how to best utilize my skills. And as I started working in starting on my degree and u and I wasn't starting in education, I started in. History. And what I really wanted to focus in on was becoming a history, like a writer of books, a historian, work in museums and do some things like that.

But as I started along doing that, I had just I realized that I wanted to really be able to share the stories and history with other people, not just adults, but more kids. And so, how do you pass that along? But by teaching. So, I sat down with my adviser one day and they said, you know, look, JC said, you've got, you've taken a lot of education courses. You've, you've done this. My wife had been a.

Teacher. I mean, she was already teaching school. And so I go: look, this is a interesting thing. So I went into it and my very first teacher was a guy by the name of Jean Chrysenberry. And Dr. Jean Chrysenberry was really neat in college.

Is that he walks in and he slides the desk across the room and he said: never let the desk keep you from your students. Your priorities are your kids and focus in on that. And it really kind of changed my perspective. He said, you know, there's two kinds of teachers. Those that really come through and just basically are passing along information and not trying to teach kids, and there are those who will do anything at all lengths to reach kids and educate. Them.

And I wanted to be that teacher. And so it inspired me. I went there and there's so many other details of why, but that was one. And then, you know, making sure that I just had to commit. I love learning. I caught in the Marines.

I mean, I was drug and alcohol counselor for the in the Marines and also did nuclear, biological, chemical, but we'll save that for another day.

Rachael Maves: I'm going to hold you to that. I want to hear more about that eventually. I love that you bring up that kind of that, those voices in your head, like that professor, that teacher that really sticks with you. And I remember for myself when I was in my teacher prep program, I had a professor, Dr. Scott Moes, and one of the things that he always said was: never sit down when you're in class with kids. Like you should be up and moving around.

It is your time of engaging. And that's always been that voice that's with me, that I can't. I can't shift it when I'm in the. Classroom. It has to be focused on that engagement with students.

JC Bowman: Yeah. No, that's exactly right. So, yeah, it's a and you remember these people, that's right. They put, they pour in their background, into you and they become part of who you are.

Rachael Maves: Yeah. Where did you? Where were you first teaching JC?

JC Bowman: Well, I taught in Meigs County, which is a neighboring county to Bradley. I'm from Bradley County. I'm a Cleveland, Tennessee guy and so proud of being from Cleveland, and I went to Lee University and people are like you know, I honestly I'm a big Tennessee fan and I was going to go to Lee for a semester and then go up to UT and then I had a really bad car accident and about got killed and that well, what that did was that changed my perspective on wanting to go and I stayed at Lee and I did my four-year degree in two and a half years, Not because I was real impressive or real. Smart. It's like I had enough funding for three years and I was going to get the maximum. So I actually used the remaining money to start my masters.

So that was great.

Rachael Maves: Good for you.

JC Bowman: So was, so I was able to do that.

Rachael Maves: So I mean that's awesome. So tell me a little bit, as I mean education landscape, and you know you've been in this work, especially on the policy side and the legislative side, for years. You've seen a lot of shifts and changes. When you think about where we are right now in Tennessee, but then also just across the nation, with education. What are the one or two things that really keep you up at? Night?

JC Bowman: Oh, yeah. Wow. So, so a couple things. I mean, I think for me, what keeps me up at night, I mean, is: am I doing enough? And I'm a I'm every time. I feel like it's kind of like the mafia, that old saying in the movie The Godfather.

Every time I think I'm out, they drag me back in. But there's always something else that comes along. And one of the things you're doing and I want to tie it back to you a little bit because you know, right now, I think you know everybody is depressed. I mean, I hate to say that we're, we're in. Angst. We don't know what's going on.

We can't predict where the federal government's going. What's where state government? I mean, there's a lot of frustration at the state level, and but I say that it's actually a pretty exciting time because I think what we have is an opportunity. That's the frontier. Yeah. And AI is that frontier.

Yeah. And so you know, can we do some things with AI that's never been done. Can we, you know, I think in testing, I think in telling our stories, and getting out there and sharing the results of how our kids are doing. So, am I doing? Enough? That's the question that I and I had that as a classroom teacher.

Every day I'd wake up,: did I do enough for a kid, or did I do enough for my school, or and I was a sponsor and a coach and all these things, and so I think that's it. Am I doing enough?

Rachael Maves: Yeah. I appreciate that, JC. And I think I also appreciate your hopeful framing of it. Like this is, there is a lot that is tumultuous right now. I was talking to another colleague who's in the kind of policy line of work and we were talking about how we feel like we're just kind of holding our breath, you know, of where things are going and how we're going to navigate and the what the that line forward looks like, and there's a lot of uncertainty, right. Now.

I think you're you're nailing it of how people are feeling. So, in the midst of that, though, this great opportunity and I really do believe that data pieces alongside of AI is at the heart of it of how do we really start to get smart about the data that we're looking at. What is the data that's most important? How do we elevate student voices into that, and community voice and parent voice? I know that's something that you're a big advocate for as well. But having that be part of that decision-making process, I think, is so important.

JC Bowman: Well, and I that drug in the last couple of months with a lot of superintendent who come in, and it's a common theme that actually, I think that maybe for this that I connected with you on this, because. They're looking at it more of the communication side of things. Yes. And so that. And then the school board. I just spoke to a school board recently and they are struggling.

It's they can handle the reactive stuff. It's the proactive stuff they can't get out of and they couldn't get in front of it. And I remember doing that and again, telling our stories and I tell people all the time it's like it's simple. Either you tell your story or someone's going to tell it for you. Yeah. And so for them, they need tools.

They need the ability to go in and share and be it with you know, establishing better support systems for. Kids. That's right. You know better utilizing data to elevate and student achievement. That's the second thing. And the third part is how you connect to the communities and the families that you're serving in a better area.

As those, you know, that's why I think it's it's a very you know, you tell it with the reality. You can't lie. If you lie, it will find you out. It's never. I tell politicians all the time, I see it every day. It's never the crime to get you.

It's always the cover up.

Rachael Maves: Yeah. Hold up. Yeah, that's right. So, as you think about just where we are in the political landscape and the things that are surfacing in education from your lens, what are one or two ways that we can move forward?

JC Bowman: Well, we need to collaborate more and we need to really know what is available, and by I say that there's, you know, we have. We're bombarded with information, but how do you weed through that information, right? Get the real stuff and the real thing that's going to make you successful and help you tell that story, or to share with your community, or and get buy in from your. Faculty. That's another thing. How can you do that?

And it's going to be with you know, some of the, some of the things that you've you've obviously been a leader on, and I think it's u, you know, something that we can do. So I think that's one of it. And the other thing is never I use this term all the. Never, ever give up. You know the what's the Churchill quote? Never give up.

But then the real thing, it's tireless advocacy. And by that you just go in, you keep digging in and you keep talking about it. And sometimes I feel like, when I'm early out there, I'm, I'm one of these guys that I identify a trend pretty quick. Yeah. Jump out on it and people think I'm nuts. And then within and I was looking over the education commission, for the states just released a thing with 35 governors are talking about things that I've been talking about for three.

Years. Yeah. And I'm like and it's not that I'm a prophet or anything like that. Is like I'm out here talking about things and that I feel like that I'm hearing. And if you can't, and then the big thing, Rachael, is that you have to take everything and bring it down to the kitchen table conversation. If you can't explain it in simple terms, to where people can go in and explain it, where they're just having dinner, coffee, or you know a mom and dad talking at the dinner table.

How is Johnny really doing in school? You know. Yeah. So, these are the things get. You.

Rachael Maves: Yeah. Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. I'm I'm wondering, JC, because you're so connected to the pulse of educators in Tennessee and leaders in education in Tennessee. What are some of the things that you're hearing from all of them that are really weighing on them right now?

JC Bowman: Yeah, surprisingly, it's it's for teachers, it's it's the they're not feeling that they're getting heard. M so it's one of the things. How do I get heard? That's a frustration point. How do I become a better voice for my profession? And so and I'm going to do a call on that with my teachers on Tuesday but how do you become a better voice for that for families?

It's, it's not. You know, when we just had a political debate I'm not going to rehash it here, but we just had a political debate on an issue that was and it wasn't something that parents were demanding. They were demanding that, you know. They were demanding more time, like with tutoring. You know, mental health is a huge issue for our kids and I have to throw this in every day, you know I go and it's also a issue for our educators. And we forget.

You know I've been advocating for I mean advocating for a long time, you know for more sbaticals, more opportunities to take time off, particularly. 82% of our teachers are female. In Tennessee, we have a higher percentage than that. And it is hard to balance that. Work life balance. Yeah.

And how can they do that? And with families, with kids, with you know, all the things I don't, you know, women are amazing. You guys do it. You not only have to do everything that's expected of you, teach school, and then you have to do it backwards and everything and raise a family. And to me, you know, I mean, my part was easy, you know, and but the but? I just get amazed every day.

And I think that we need to really step back and say, how can we support our educators? How can we support them as they support the students? And I don't think with the mental health piece of it, we're getting it right. Now, one of the things that we worked on and got it secured a few years ago was we had a $500 million trust fund established in Tennessee. So the money could be available to it. The problem is, just as we see, that there's a lack of guidance counselors in schools.

There's also a huge lack of psychologists, soci, you know, the whole gamut of people, psychiatrists. We can't get people into this field. And even if you get on a wait list to get help, it's going to be a long time. Yes. And maybe six months before you get seen. Well, by that time, the crisis is full-blown.

Rachael Maves: Yeah. Yeah. Makes sense. I, And I agree with you. I see that as a wait. In the absence of being able to fill some of those positions, teachers are taking on more, and then the impact that has on them.

JC Bowman: Yeah, it's a huge issue.

Rachael Maves: So, JC, as we kind of wrap up to our final question, and I always love this one because everybody's answer is so different. What question in education are we not asking? Are we not talking about that we really should be?

JC Bowman: How can we make students take a more active role in their education?

Rachael Maves: Oh, I love that. Tell me more.

JC Bowman: And so no, so for that, I think, you know, we've got to take more centered approaches. We need to find out what their interest is. How do we engage them where they're at? They all have to. I tell people all the time, there's 7 billion plus people in the world. Nobody thinks like I do.

And children feel like that. They are both. We're. We're merging them in together to the collective and trying to form them into where they could be, you know, a societal productive member. Society. But at the same time, we have to remember that they are unique individuals with a distinct set of skills and experiences.

Yes. So, and in Nashville, Tennessee, I use this as a great example. I can tell you of at least two. Mia, I can't remember her last name. And James, Peter or James. Preston James, he's a, he's a that's his stage name, but Preston James, as a 15-year-old student, had a gift.

He could literally play guitar as well as Ted Nugent or anybody you can think of. He is. He's probably one of the greatest guitarists in country music today. And he's 24 now, but I mean, I've known him since he was. And his mother finally took him out and homeschooled him. Because for her, you know, he just wasn't getting anything out of school.

She recognizes the value of education, but his unique and this is a guy you're probably going to see in Country Music Hall of Fame. I mean, he's been on The Voice already. Did well on that. Blake turned around for him. Blake knew who he was. And so it's a, I mean, but the how do we get the unique needs of our and I think that's another tool that AI can come in and help them particular, like, if we know if they're behind in math, we can use AI to catch up with.

Them. We could do that, but, however, they can explore other things in the arts, the music industry, which seem to really have been taking a backseat to some of the things we're doing.

Rachael Maves: Yeah. You know, it's funny because I shared with you a little bit about real and the qualitative data that we're collecting. And I remember when I was in the classroom, I would always ask at the beginning of the year, what are you looking forward to? What makes you most nervous? And what's one thing I should know about you? And but to sift through, I was a high school teacher like you, 155 students, and like to really be able to make meaning out of that, it took a long time for.

Me. And that was, I think, one of the ahas in real. We have teachers that are using it now for those types of things that will. They'll kick off the year and they'll ask those questions and the students engagement is through the roof because you know, it's something that they're used to, is electronic. They can respond either video, audio or text, but they're sharing those things of. This is what I'm most nervous about for your class, or here are the things that I wish you knew about me.

And some of it's like I get to see some of the responses. Some of it is just really funny and exciting and some of it is like that, those heart-wrenching things. As a teacher, you think I'm so glad that they shared that with me ahead of time so that I can engage with them in a different way as they're coming into the. Classroom. It's pretty powerful.

JC Bowman: That is amazing. And I did. I took a look at the reel. I played on it a little bit and I liked it. You know, I thought it was a neat tool. And so I mean I'm really curious about you know, as we get and that's the other thing I guess if I was to leave you with one party shot, you know, it's never lose your sense of wonder.

Yeah. And you know, go and look and try to be imaginative. Go and look and try to do things. And I mean I tell people every day, I try to learn every day on. Something. Yeah.

And many days I fail and I can live with it. And but you know, for me, I mean, you know, I try to push myself. I've, I've, I've tried to teach myself photography, and you know which limited results, but it's something fun and it's just something different. You know, the renaissance piece of me, I think, is that I like the idea of being well-rounded. I don't like being, you know, this, I think. A researcher I read in an 80s, by the name of Sheila Ostrander, coined the term lopheaded culture and what she was talking about was that we only learn like these three things, and we don't do anything.

Else. You know, expand your brain and focus more on the renaissance type thing. Try to become well-rounded and learn. I'll never learn music. I mean, I can't carry a tune. They tell me in church, not, they tell people turn open your handmill.

They tell me that please don't your. I joke with my pastor about it. My pastor, I joked about it and he said he goes, "You know, JC, you're not.

Rachael Maves: Oh, I love that. Oh, well, Thank you, JC, so much for your time today. It's just good to reconnect with you and to hear your story, and I look forward to connecting again soon.

JC Bowman: Yes, ma'am. Thank you so much.

Rachael Maves: A friendly reminder that Parsec Education's early bird sale is live. Get 50% off tickets for the 2026 Measure What We Value Summit happening February 4th through 5th in Fresno, California. Don't miss this limited time offer and the opportunity to experience our incredible MC, Brandon Lee, season 15 winner of America's Got Talent. Secure your tickets now at parsecsummit.com.

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This transcript was created from the episode's captions and lightly edited for readability. It may contain small errors; please refer to the audio for exact wording.