In street smarts versus book smarts, give me the candidate with the degrees

11:00 am June 14, 2010, by Maureen Downey

I have covered elections in three other states besides Georgia, New Jersey, Delaware and Florida, and I had never heard candidates disparaged because they had too much education or an Ivy league degree.

Until I came to Georgia.

The suspicions with which some Georgians greet impressive education credentials came up this weekend in Savannah at the Georgia School Boards Association forum for school superintendents. Twice in his comments to the 600-member audience, candidate Joe Martin cautioned the audience members that they were going to hear some things about him, that he was from Atlanta, that he went to Harvard. “I want you to know I share your values,” he reassured the crowd.

And the most important value in my mind ought to be the importance of education.

It was clear that Martin’s fear was that voters would dismiss him as a liberal elite educated at the mecca for liberalism. (He is a Vietnam vet with a bronze star to show for his service, so that may balance it out for him.)

But I should hope that school board members would love to hear that Martin — or any other candidate — went to Harvard. It shows that the most select institution of higher learning in the world judged him to be bright enough for admission. That is no small feat and should be celebrated. (For those who may doubt the value of a Harvard education, I have to say that after living with a Harvard graduate, my husband, I am absolutely convinced that the university provides an incredible education.)

There is no job for which educational credentials — and all the Republican and Democratic candidates for superintendent have plenty of them — should matter more than the state school chief. This person has to be a missionary and zealot for the transformative power of education.

Another issue that came up in conversations at the Savannah conference was whether Dr. Beth Farokhi, an eighth-generation Georgian, will pay a price because of her exotic last name. One of the strongest candidates I ever met for a local school board seat was an African native whose name was so foreign — I think it had 13 vowels — that I didn’t think he stood a chance. And he came in next to last in a field where he should have led based on his experience, platform and commitment.

Unlike the race for president where voters got to see beyond Barack Obama’s exotic name, lesser political races are often decided in the voting booth, and I think there is a visceral reaction to seeing a strange name. I hope people can look beyond names; Farokhi has a long history of working for education in the state. (One person told me that she may cancel her exotic last name with her down-home first name.)

There is a great deal to be said for successful people who are self-educated or learned their skills in the “school of hard knocks.” But how many of us would be thrilled to discover that the surgeon doing our knee replacement was self-taught?

Certain jobs demand a formal education.

I am going to admit a bias right here: I think candidates for higher office should be highly educated, especially baby boomers for whom there were many opportunities for college. Neither of my parents attended college, but neither had a real opportunity due to their family situations. As I have said, my mother was the daughter of Italian immigrants and she repeated the immigrant’s mantra to me and my brothers almost daily: “Get an education. They can never take that away from you.” (I am not sure who the “they” was, but my mother didn’t like them one bit.)

Her words worked as we all have master’s degrees or better. I think we should also expect that of our elected leaders.

I know that many of you will disagree. So let’s discuss.

http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2010/06/14/why-should-any-candidate-atone-for-a-harvard-degree-in-street-smarts-versus-book-smarts-give-me-the-candidate-with-the-degrees/?cxntfid=blogs_get_schooled_blog

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1338297&forum_id=1#15243668)

Posted on listserv. http://harvard.listserv.org/threads/view/543

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1338297&forum_id=1#15244186)

" ... Baker is the first candidate in the race to launch a full television campaign, five months ahead of the November election.

Baker’s 30-second ad, funded by the state Republican Party, works at building his everyman credentials, with a vintage picture of Baker in a Needham High School basketball uniform and contemporary images of the candidate addressing the camera in a Swampscott High School football T-shirt, where his son attended school.

The spot leaves out any mention of Baker’s Harvard background, though he played varsity basketball there."

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1338297&forum_id=1#15252047)