Live from Music Row Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Professional Educators of Tennessee Executive Director and CEO JC Bowman in studio to comment upon Tennessee’s Commissioner of Education, Penny Schwinn who made a special trip to the White House on Wednesday.
Leahy: In studio, JC Bowman, the head of the Professional Educators of Tennessee. On the web at proedtnorg. Did I get that right?
Bowman: Yes, sir.
Leahy: There’s so much troubling news out there. So much I don’t know what you call it. Negative news. We have to bring in some positive news every now and then.
Bowman: Does that mean Daphne is coming?
Leahy: It means it’s time for Daphne DeLoren. Daphne, what have you got going on this weekend?
     (Daphne DeLoren clip plays)
Leahy:Â For all those sports fans and athletes in our listing audience, tomorrow morning you want a free ticket to a Titans game? Go run the 5K. I don’t think I’m going to do that.
Bowman: No, I’ll pay the money. You left off some important news.
Leahy: Tell me.
Bowman: Tennessee Volunteers won last night.
Leahy: Yes, they scorched Ball State Cardinals.
Bowman: And Strider struck out 16 last night.
Leahy: There you go. Nothing but good news. Now, you teased this story, and it turns out that it’s actually true. Laura Testino. She’s a reporter. Where is she based?
Bowman: She’s in Memphis at The Commercial Appeal, but she is basically a network of news, and Laura’s an incredible reporter. She really is a good reporter.
Leahy: Even though she works for Gannett?
Bowman: Well, she works for Ganett. She’s a great education reporter. She gets into details.
Leahy: So do you think we might actually get her on the program here sometime? Is she that open-minded?
Bowman: I think she would be.
Leahy: So here’s what she tweeted out, and I got to stop and say this is crazy, but nonetheless, Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn joined a group at the White House on Wednesday of this week to discuss teacher shortages, including ways to encourage professionals to make a career change and teach their expertise.
Now, my question to you is, what on earth is Tennessee’s education commissioner doing hanging out with the divisive and nasty and vile, legal but not legitimate grifter in Chief Joe Biden and his team?
Bowman: Well, she’s up there a lot. So, I mean, a couple of things that we’ve lost a narrative here on education in our state. One of the things that came out of another reporter in Memphis by the name of Ian Round reported that 22 groups took over $100 million of Bill Gates and the Walton Foundation money.
And with that, that is dictated, we have a national agenda here. That’s why I’ve been telling you that local control is a forgotten concept. So what has happened is this whole national thing and she is there talking about our Grow Your Own program, which they’re trying to roll out as a national model.
It’s not terrible. We are supporters of it. We think it’s a good idea to take people’s career people and to get in there. But then that means you have to have, when you brought up the idea of the teachers who come in and we’re not getting hired in Connecticut.
Leahy:Â But I think it’s that way in every state.
Bowman: And where is your Secretary of Education from, by the way?
Leahy: Connecticut. Miguel Cardona. This is the kind of school system that he was in charge of in Connecticut where they don’t hire conservatives or Catholics.
Bowman: So what’s happening is you’re not getting the experienced educators in the field again.
Leahy: You’re getting young, 20-somethings. And the criticism that has been made of the schools of education is their far left progressive centers and all the kids coming out, the younger teachers have their brains filled with progressive ideology. And remember and I’m throwing everything out here.
Bowman: So when we went back to the Hillsdale thing, where I got mad at Hillsdale was Larry Arnn saying that anybody can teach the narrative of anybody teaching being brought in.
Leahy: This is an example. And Hillsdale is a great institution. But Larry Arnn was reckless in making those statements, knowing the politics of a statement, where he basically criticized, in essence, criticized every teacher.
Bowman: He did.
Leahy: And it was a very bad move.
Bowman: And it fed into the narrative which is being pushed. And it’s all about that dollar. I mean, how do we combat $100 million being spent in our state?
Leahy: By Bill Gates.
Bowman: Mainly by Bill Gates?
Leahy: A paragon of moral virtue. Not!
Bowman: And I’m going to say this, I still want to hear about his trip with Epstein. I want to know what is dealing with that. And here he is shaping our education policy.
Leahy: Well, generally speaking, the people with big money now and the second generation of people with big money the Walton family, they’ve all gone lunatic left. Basically, we’re better than you. Authoritarianism. This is what we’re seeing all over the country.
Bowman: And they have no political ideology. And so for that, you have no principles.
Leahy: Well, on that chipper. (Laughter)
Bowman: There you go.
Leahy: This is why we need Daphne to come in and bring some lightness.
Bowman: Penny Schwinn was in D.C. on Wednesday to talk with the president of the United States.
Leahy: Unbelievable. This divisive, nasty, illegitimate president of the United States. And Governor Bill Lee thinks this is a good idea?
Bowman: I would love to hear his comments on that.
Leahy: Shouldn’t he call a Penny and say, hey, Commissioner Schwinn, don’t be going up and consorting with the people pushing progressive education transgenderism?
Bowman: Well, she works for him, so maybe she or he can come in here and speak to why she was there.
Leahy: Penny Schwinn has never talked to us. Bill Lee has never talked to us, except for one occasion where he sort of had to because was a press conference that Bill Hagerty.
Listen to the interview:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Bill Lee has made many mistakes while in office but hiring Penny Schwinn is one of the worst. Is he a closet progressive?
I do not mind Ms. Schwinn going to Washington BUT I do hold it against her for returning to Tennessee. She smells of nationalization of the public education system.
And we have Billy Boy Lee to thank for having her. If he had any guts he would fire her – yesterday. But he is a rich RINO basking in the glory of being a governor. A continuance of such. Money does not make one wise. It just buys a position.