Candidates Lacking Education Credentials?

[JFman00]

I've always been a bit of a snob when it comes to higher education, but am I the only one entirely underwhelmed by the educational credentials of the entire slate of candidates? It's not the only factor for sure, but I'm barely seeing any candidate in any position having a degree from anywhere in the top 100 universities/liberal arts as rated by USNWR other than the many FSU grads (#95).

Exceptions (undergrad unless otherwise noted):

District 3: Naval Academy (#13) Aaron Bowman, Vanderbilt (#16) James Nealis
District 4: UF/Hough(#41) Raymond Day
District 6: UF (#48) Matt Schellenberg
District 9: Columbia University/Teachers College (#8) Glorious Johnson
Mayor: UF (#48) Lenny Curry

... And that's it. For me, a stunning number of candidates for office without any degree at all or degrees from for-profit or non-academic (i.e. religious) institutions.

[Tacachale]

Educational attainment can be good as one of several possible gauges for candidates, but degrees from "Top 100" US News and World Report school isn't all that telling. Especially considering that only two of those schools are even located in this state.

There are a number of other candidates with master's degrees, which should be at least as much a laurel as getting a bach degree from a higher-falutin school decades ago. Bill Bishop has both a Master of Architecture and an MBA. Anna Brosche has a Master of Accountancy from UNF. Greg Anderson has a Masters' from Duquesne  University. Alvin Brown, Tommy Hazouri, John Crescimbeni and probably some others, went to JU. Not what I'd call uneducated.

[CityLife]

People would be surprised at how many highly educated people there are in town. I meet a lot of wealthy people in town through work, a lot of whom are highly educated. Many of them are either in the wealth accumulation phase of their life and are career focused, or are past that and want freedom to travel and do whatever they want. Its difficult to find people willing to sacrifice their own career goals, personal freedom, and wealth accumulation, for a role that frankly isn't that prestigious and rewarding. I've got a lot of respect for the well educated, successful, and talented candidates that do run.

I mean you are just one of 19 members and you have to navigate through a fairly dysfunctional government. Sure you can use the position to accomplish things or springboard into a higher political office, but I think its probably a lot more of a headache than it is rewarding. I'm fairly confident that I could be a city council person someday, but it would take a whole lot of convincing for me to even consider it. I've talked to many others who feel the same way.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

I'd much rather see a trend of tangible successes rather than a degree on the wall.

Sure you can use the position to accomplish things or springboard into a higher political office, but I think its probably a lot more of a headache than it is rewarding.

This sentiment, IMO, is the crux of the reason we're in the predicament that we're in today, politikally speaking.

When did 'public service' get bastardized into 'personal gain'; Or has everyone lost sight of the reason that you hold office to begin with?

[mtraininjax]

Working with people does not require advanced education, but it does require advanced thinking. Ask the Duval County School Board how many administrators they have terminated over the years with high degrees of education. To run a city you have to be able to compromise, you can't just be the smartest person in the room. I'd take a person who works with people and has a track record of working to solve problems over an IBM computer any day.

[CityLife]

Talk about taking a quote out of context NRW...

The point was that it is easier for successful people to accomplish their goals without being a mere 1 of 19 city council members (not to mention the toll campaigning takes). For instance, the ED of the Cultural Council, Riverkeeper, Groundworks, etc are able to accomplish a lot more through those channels as they would as a member of City Council.

I also think there would be a whole lot more selfless candidates interested in the position, if there was a better perception of the political body and its ability to accomplish things. Fortunately, this looks like a better candidate pool than past years. Perhaps this election will start to move the needle in a positive direction for future races.