Does a college degree make someone a better school board member?

A teacher I knew went to night school two days a week for a while. At the end of it, she said to me, "I can't believe I have a Master's Degree!"

I smiled and nodded, but I kept my mouth shut. I was thinking, "I can't believe it either."

My colleague's master's degree was in education. As some readers may know, an advanced degree in education is unlike any other master's degree. Many such programs give teachers academic credit for doing what they've done day after day for twenty years: going to work. Very few education programs require the intense effort and accomplishment that is the basis of other advanced degrees. The GRE scores of education candidates are the lowest of all scores--and that's just for those who are accepted into the most rigorous programs. Most programs don't require the GRE.

So I always get a kick out of people who call themselves "Doctor" when they get a Ph. D. in education. (Doctor Cox, the mayor of Chula Vista, is an example.)

But at the recent forum for candidates for Grossmont High School District board, two right-wing challengers, Woods and Jedynak, claimed that their bachelor's degrees that made them superior to independent right-wing incumbents Schreiber and Urdahl. The challengers are supported by Jim Kelly, the ex-board president who formerly controlled Schreiber and Urdahl with an iron hand.

Sometimes education gives people a broader understanding of the world, and sometimes it just makes narrow-minded people more dangerous.


CARROLL BOONE AND PATRICIA SCHREIBER FOR GUHSD

I myself would prefer not to go back to the Jim Kelly days.

That goal would be accomplished by electing Caroll Boone, a retired lawyer.

So who do I choose to go along with Boone? Urdahl or Schreiber? I choose Schreiber, not because I approve of her gay-baiting activities, but because she hasn't declared bankruptcy in the last year, as Urdahl has done.

Below is Leonel Sanchez' report on the race:


2 challengers aim attacks at 2 incumbents at forum
By Leonel Sanchez
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
October 9, 2008

Schreiber said that if Woods and Jedynak win, they would be expected by Kelly to follow his orders, and “nothing happened when he was leader.”

Kelly said he did not recruit Jedynak and Woods but supports them because of their character and credentials...

Carroll Boone, a retired lawyer and the lone Democrat in the board race, stayed out of the fray.

Boone instead emphasized her skills as a mediator, which she said she would use to bring the board together. Boone said she supports Proposition U, and was the only candidate who said the board should not have endorsed the proposed state ban on same-sex marriage.

“I see no relevance,” Boone said.

The county Republican Party has endorsed Jedynak and Woods. The Grossmont Education Association, which represents district teachers, has endorsed Schreiber and Urdahl.