So now that we’ve replaced the gym coach as secretary of education, what’s known about his replacement? What graduate degrees does she hold, in what fields, and from what schools? What major position papers has she written on the subject of education? Why should we believe that she is remotely qualified for this job (other than our blind allegience, of course)?
Wikipedia has a short article on her. (It actually contains more information than the White House release announcing her appointment.)
The Whitehouse web site has not yet been updated for the new cabinet, so there is no information there, yet.
On the other hand, your final question does not seem to indicate a desire for a purely factual answer, so I am going to shift this over to IMHO. (And if someone desires to challenge her appointment, they can open a new thread in GD.)
[ /Moderator Mode ]
Interestingly, she earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Houston, but no one mentions what it was in. My guess is not in the field of education. She worked in some educational settings, mainly to do with school finance. Involved with the No Child Left Behind act. And very involved with multiple Bush campaigns. So, this seems to be a political appointment, not one based on experience or familiarity with the field. Have most secretaries of education known a lot about education, or is it normally a throwaway cabinet post, like transportation secretary (honest question).
I thought about placing it somewhere else, but what I’m really interested in is purely factual: her documentable experience.
I saw the Wikipedia article, btw; it’s nearly content-free.
It’s a relatively new field, actually.
Shirley Mount Hufstedler was appointed by Carter and came mainly from a law background. Still, that’s a graduate degree.
William Bennett had a Ph.D. in political philosophy and a law degree.
Lauro F. Cavazos had a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D., but Wikipedia doesn’t mention in which fields they were earned. The Texas Tech biography is down.
Lamar Alexander doesn’t really seem to have much direct educational experience – university presidents are usually more about raising money than teaching – but he did do a fair bit of work on the education system while he was Governor of Tennessee.
Richard Riley similarly did a fair bit of work on revamping South Carolina’s educational system while he was governor.
Rod Paige was the first to have a Ph.D. in education. His thesis, though, was on a method for training linebackers. His largest domain before his appointment was as superintendent of schools in the Houston Independent School District. Since his appointment, evidence has been uncovered that many of that district’s advancements were as much the result of “cooking the books” as they were of actually getting kids to read them.
The most I can find of actual experience in Spellings’ past is as a lobbyist for Texas’ state school boards association, rather than as an educator herself.