2016 elections - because it's never too early

[Eddie Teach]

"I'm not here to be part of any political party," Pitbull said in a statement. "I'm here to bring political parties to my party because they can't, they won't they never will, stop the Pitbull party, Dale!"

/gemido

[Jacob]

You're assuming everyone has to be paid the same, which is a union thing, not a state of nature thing.

No that's not what I'm assuming. But I am assuming that "we'll pay you well" is more persuasive if you actually pay people well.

I'm also assuming that the incentive is not based on a heavily individualized recruitment approach, but is rather somewhat broad based. I'm also assuming that existing teachers are not universally shit who deserve to be paid little.

One approach: encourage teachers to get better qualifications and continuous training through salary incentives, and apply that to new and old teachers alike. If someone has a Masters degree in a relevant field and takes a number of additional courses and gets qualifications on an ongoing basis, they get compensated better f. example. The better the incentive, the more likely it is that more teachers will continually pursue professional development; and the more likely that people motivated to improve themselves and their position will stick it out as teachers rather than move on to other fields.

That should improve the quality of education over time. Spending more money on funding programs and infrastructure likely will help too, though I understand that that is property tax based so that's a tougher nut to crack as the disparity between well funded schools in well off areas and underfunded schools in poor areas is hard to address.

Also, we were talking about raising pay to attract more talent, not whether current teachers are underpaid and/or being treated like shit.

Those two things seem closely linked to me.

You can look at retention rates for indications.  Or ask them.

"Hey, so we see that you're a good teacher and we're wondering if you're thinking of quitting in the near future (if you say yes, we'll give you more money, if you say no, we won't)"... seems kind of a wonky system of staff retention IMO.

[CountDeMoney]

It's obvious who keeps their browser open all day. 

[Admiral Yi]

Those two things seem closely linked to me.

Then every job in the world pays crap, because every job can up their pay.

I don't think you've thought this one through.

[Jacob]

Those two things seem closely linked to me.

Then every job in the world pays crap, because every job can up their pay.

I don't think you've thought this one through.

I'm afraid you've lost me there. What's your point?

[Admiral Yi]

I'm afraid you've lost me there. What's your point?

It is always possible to attract better talent by offering more money.  Not every job is paid crap.  The two are not directly correlated.

[Jacob]

I'm afraid you've lost me there. What's your point?

It is always possible to attract better talent by offering more money.  Not every job is paid crap.  The two are not directly correlated.

Okay.

I agree, not every job is paid crap. You can usually attract better talent by offering more money. Sure.

[CountDeMoney]

RAND PAUL LIED
DIPLOMAS DIED

Fact Checker
Rand Paul's claim — twice in one day — that he has a biology degree

"I have a biology degree, okay?"
–Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky), remarks at the Lincoln Labs "Reboot Congress" conference, Feb. 12, 2015

This column has been updated with an additional explanation by Paul's spokesman

We first spotted a version of this quote in a Bloomberg column by David Weigel, and then checked the quotes with our colleague Jose DelReal, who had attended the conference. 

This is a bit of an odd one, given that Paul does not have a college undergraduate degree.

The Facts

Paul mentioned his alleged degree at the conference not once, but twice. First, in an exchange with TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington, Paul said:

    Arrington: "Let's talk about economics because maybe you can actually explain this to me. I have an econ degree which means I know just enough not to understand any of what our government is [inaudible]"

    Paul: "Mine's in biology and English so this is going to be a great conversation."

Then, later in the conversation, expounding on what he considered the virtues of Bitcoin, Paul said:

    "This is just me. I have a biology degree, okay? But with Bitcoin my concern always was whether or not something has real value. So I could imagine a kind of coin that was exchangeable. This gets back to the whole idea, does money have to be exchangeable for something to be of value?"

The interesting thing about these references is that previously Paul's staff has blamed the media for misunderstanding his unusual educational background.

Paul attended Baylor University between 1981 and 1984 but never graduated. Yet he was able to attend Duke University Medical School and received a degree there in 1988. At the time, Duke's medical school did not require students to have a bachelor's degree, though the policy has since changed, according to a 2010 report in the Lexington Herald-Leader. (Ron Paul, his father and the former member of Congress, does have a biology degree.)

"In the jocular bantering with the host, Dr. Rand Paul mentioned 'degree,' but anyone who has read Dr. Paul's official biography on his website can see that he was accepted early into one of the most prestigious medical schools in the country — Duke University School of Medicine," said Brian Darling, Paul's senior communications director. "Dr. Paul finished the requirements for medical school in two and one half years.  While in college, Dr. Paul did study biology and English.  He has no college degree and has a medical degree."

Update: After this column appeared, Darling e-mailed a supplemental statement making the case that in effect a medical degree is a biology degree:

"It is unfair to give Senator Paul 3 Pinocchios because a M.D. Degree is the study of biomedical sciences according to the Duke University School of Medicine.  In other words, a M.D. is a biology degree. Merriam-Webster defines biology as 'a branch of knowledge that deals with living organisms and vital processes.  Dr. Paul never said he had an undergraduate degree in biology and it is accurate for him to say that he has a biology degree.  You are making inferences from his statement that are unwarranted.  It is common knowledge that the study of medicine is the study of human biology and a MD has a doctorate degree in one area of study of the science of biology."

The Pinocchio Test

This is the second time in recent weeks we have had to fact check something that Paul's staff suggested was an off-the-cuff remark not to be taken seriously. We'd be more inclined to brush this off if Paul had not made this assertion twice in one day—or if his staff in the past had not blamed the media for misreporting on his college credentials.

Paul studied biology (and English) at Baylor, but he didn't earn a degree. There's no excuse for resume-inflation, even when it's jocular. We can't quite say this is worthy of Four Pinocchios, but the senator should be more careful in the future.

(Update: We are curious what readers think of Paul's additional explanation. We're not sure what to make of it, given that at the event he said his degree was in biology and English. That doesn't sound like a medical degree.  A medical degree involves the study of biology, but some well-credentialed readers have emphatically noted that a medical degree is not a degree in biology.)

Three Pinocchios

I don't see why there would be a problem if he has a medical degree instead of an undergraduate degree--like the piece said, he didn't need an undergraduate degree to get into medical school--but then why 1) keep implying you have one, and 2) then your staff try to make Medical Degree = Biology Degree, when it isn't?

I mean, all you hoity toity high-falutin' graduate schoolers never mention your undergrad bullshit, and why?  Because it doesn't matter.  So why should it matter to somebody who has an M.D.?

[Berkut]

Kind of an odd thing to let happen. Just say "I studied biology" or for that matter "I have a medical degree".

But Paul is a nutbar, so what do you want?

[derspiess]

Is Biden still talking about running?

[Sheilbh]

God willing

Edit: And yes. Laying out his case in Iowa recently

[Ed Anger]

Rand must have been an unpaid intern.

[mongers]

How many days do you guys have before voting?

Here we have around another 90 days to go and I along with a fair chunk of the population seem already exhausted/bored.

edit:

I checked, 82 days left before UK general election and a mere 633 day of electioneering before the US elections.   

[dps]

For the political professionals, electioneering never ends.  I suspect that's as true in the UK as in the US, despite the vastly different voting systems.

[KRonn]

Why is it that no other Dems are even attempting to run against Hillary? She's been the anointed one but she also was in 2008 and she lost. I don't think she's really even a strong candidate and won't automatically fare well vs the Repub candidate, so I'm surprised that other Dems don't feel the same way and run against her to give their party more flexibility, better their chances to gain the White House.