So Rob Portman voted to confirm Betsy DeVos

[*bfine32*]

(02-09-2017, 08:41 PM)Dill Wrote: I don't think Pat and Benton made up stats they "desired." They just know where to find the relevant stats and how to read and assess them.  And the fact that we spend more than other countries hardly means our children are therefore receiving a bad education which could not get any worse.

If the US education performance were on par with Afghanistan, Chad or South Sudan, then a change agent with no professional qualifications might do no harm. 

But if we are performing JUST UNDER countries like Germany, Japan and Finland, still above the average of 1st-world industrialized countries, then your unprofessional, unqualified, and inexperienced change agent could start us on a downward trend towards Chad.

In places where "the rest of the world is getting smarter," it is not because change agents with no professional qualifications have been brought in to "shake things up." It is because professionals are in charge of educational policy, able to set long term goals and fund their achievement.

In places where the world is NOT getting smarter, like Afghanistan, that is because political offices go to people who buy them, to donors and lobbyists.

Why do you support this third-world model for the world's leading economy and superpower, with the world's best universities?

I didn't say anyone made up stats they desired, I said we can make stats reflect what we desire. Just as they used increased college enrollment as a supporting stat; I retorted with our global stats. 

As listed Devos has professional qualifications to include chairing businesses and working to improve educational opportunities for the disadvantaged.

You can assume you know why other countries are getting smarter; however, there is no canned answer. Many suggest it is our emphasis on sports in the academic environment, while others come up with reasons such as not allowing students to fail (read higher college enrollment)

I think the disconnect is that I have not said Devos will succeed; I've simply said she is qualified to fulfill the post and her diversity could be beneficial; as I have seen it in business models. Others (and now you) have asserted it will not

I do not support a third-world model. I have said we are not getting our bang for the buck and perhaps a new approach is worth a shot and I'm not willing to be so partisan as to shoot it down before it starts.