As most of us know by now, Margaret Spellings has been elected as the president of the 17-campus UNC System, and it is every bit as personal and political as the UNC Board of Governors claims it not to be.
It is clear that there is a political agenda here, but no one on the board is willing to admit that. Instead they give us little to no reason as to why Tom Ross had to resign.
The board has made statements that Ross was forced to resign to bring in a fresh, new leader, which is arguable, but I doubt Spellings is that leader. Also, the fact that she is Republican and worked for Bush is all too convenient, which would be fine if it wasn’t for her lack of experience for this position and the ideas she has supported in the past.
It was under the Bush Administration that she helped start the No Child Left Behind Act, or as I like to call it: The One Glove Fits All Act. Anyone who has gone through the school system in America recently knows what a joy that was.
It concerns me that someone who supported a system that focused so heavily on standardized tests and drilling students on test-taking tips will be president of the University system.
Spellings has been quoted on wanting to push innovation, but laws such as No Child Left Behind Act goes against that. We were being force fed on how to take tests and how to memorize instead of learn. I can’t tell you how many tests I’ve passed by just cramming the information the night before and forgetting it once I’ve handed in my Scantron. We’ve all done it, but is it really a good indicator of what we’ve learned? Does it promote innovation?
Her supporters on the board have also talked about her commitment to college affordability and accessibility. I find that interesting since she has served on boards such as the University of Phoenix, a for-profit university, and Ceannate, a student loan-collection company. As John Oliver stated on “Last Week Tonight,” for-profit schools account for 31 percent of all student loans despite only having 13 percent of the total higher education population. The reason for this is that for-profit schools, such as the University of Phoenix, are expensive, sometimes five to six times more expensive than community colleges.
Spellings has also come out in support of diversity on campus, which is great. But I wonder why she wouldn’t extend that support to PBS, instead of in 2005 demanding that “Arthur,” a popular children’s show, get rid of an episode that featured a lesbian couple.
It is clear that the board just wanted a Republican president, and the fact that they still deny that without giving any valid reasons as to why Ross is resigning is, quite frankly, insulting.
