Where Have all the Solons Gone?

Pink Slip Rick + Gerard Robinson

The impact of war is self-evident,
since economically it is exactly the same as
if the nation were to drop a part
of its capital into the ocean
--Karl Marx

Those who can, do,
Those who can't, teach,
Those who can't teach, coach,
Those who can't coach, administer
____________________

One problem with government is that mediocrity is rewarded and lesser-qualified individuals rise to the top by virtue of lock-step conformity and partisanship.

When the state of U.S. public education is languishing and Florida languishes at the penultimate ranking of states in terms of quality of education, our vaunted governor Pink Slip Rick appoints Gerard Robinson as Florida's new Education Commissioner.

Mr. Robinson's qualifications to this weighty position are bugger all: He holds a MEd from Harvard and taught 5th grade for one year. Nil, zippo, aught qualifies Robinson to be commissioner of Florida's education, aside from the fact that, as Vice President Biden once said of President Obama, he is a tall, black man "who is articulate, bright and clean." Oh, and he's a "change agent" (New Education Leader is Reform-minded).

Education is a field that undergoes reform before we even know the facts, but as a simple Army dictum goes, we shouldn't mistake movement for progress. What constitutes reform? We would trust an educator with a Bachelor's + 30 years experience before trusting a callow 1st-year middle school teacher appointed by a venal carpetbagger.

Private school vouchers plus charter schools are getting backing from Scott, a businessman favored by those against anything which smacks of socialism. Of course, those same people are happy to have police, fireman and public transportation when they need it. Public education is being gutted, and nothing better is being fronted for the average student.

Political reliability is not an educational qualification. We should stop playing Lotto with our kid's education.