Q&A with Johnson City school board incumbent Paula Treece

Johnson City Board of Education incumbent Paula Treece was elected to the board in 2018, bringing with her experience as a local public education leader.Treece believes school funding is one of public education's main challenges, and she said community involvement is an important part of advocating for the system's students.There are three seats open on the board and six other candidates: Kenneth Herb Greenlee, Ginger Carter, David Linville, Beth Simpson, Matt Wilhjelm and incumbent Jonathan Kinnick.Now seeking re-election in November, the Press asked the Oregon State University graduate to tell us more about herself and what makes her right for the board.How long have you been a part of the Johnson City community?My family moved to Johnson City in 2004 from southern Mississippi, and we have lived here for 16 years.What makes you right for the job?I have been involved in Johnson City Schools since my oldest started kindergarten, she is now a sophomore in college. I have been a part of PTA since then, doing everything from being a room mom, to secretary, to local unit president, to our Johnson City Council president and numerous other jobs in between. I have always felt that being involved in the community and the schools make them better for everyone. Through my training in PTA, I have learned how to advocate effectively for all children. I have communicated for years with our state and federal legislators both on behalf of PTA and as a concerned citizen and mom. Two years ago, I felt that the next step was running for the school board. I have seen our amazing school district from both sides and I feel like my work here is not done.What do you think are some of the biggest challenges in education today?Right now the biggest challenge is educating all the children in Johnson City to a high level even if they cannot be in a school building because of the pandemic. Our teachers and administrators have worked diligently to make sure that all our kids' educational needs are being met. This has never been done before and we need to continue to work to get all our students back in a classroom as soon as possible.How do you think the board should go about tackling those challenges?The school board needs to continue to monitor all situations and all schools in our district during the pandemic and to continue to monitor them as we come back to in-person learning. It is inevitable that there will be issues with closing classes due to positive cases, but we need to make sure that our students are still being taught to the level we are accustomed to in Johnson City. We need to make sure that no children are falling through the cracks as they are remote learning so we can keep their education on track. We also need to make sure that we are setting all our students up for excellence in their futures. We need to make sure that opportunities are still available to our high schoolers for leadership roles in clubs, sports, and our community — even during the pandemic — so as not to hurt their chances of getting into elite colleges.What are some hot-button education issues that are most important to you?Fully funding the Basic Education Plan by our state government. Currently, Tennessee ranks 46th out of 50 in education funding. Our state government hands down unfunded mandates to our school systems and expects that we will be able to fund anything they legislate. They need to reassess the BEP and give us the money that we need to make our education system the best in the nation. Fully funding our BEP is fully funding our future. We are very lucky to live in a city where education has been a priority for years. But we still need to watch all that goes on in Nashville and Washington, D.C., in regards to education.School vouchers (for charter schools) have also been a hot issue for years. Vouchers take the money and support away from public schools, and the students don't always benefit from them. Proponents of vouchers say their priority is to get kids out of failing schools, but what we need to do is fix failing schools.