by Shaun Kenney
The Daily Caller has an article on how Republican governor-elect Glenn Youngkin’s new selection for Secretary of Education was the founder and CEO of Data Quality Campaign (DQC) — an organization which collected data on public schoolchildren, including their class schedules, grades, and other data in order to provide metrics to enhance student performance at a policy level.
The firm was so successful that Bill Gates threw $26 million at DQC, which like most corporate firms included some hat-tip to the wokeisme — my new favorite word — drive for equity. Which might offend me if not for the fact that every institution seems to have bent the knee to these modern-day Jacobins in order not to be cancelled, looted, spat upon, and so forth.
Obviously, The Daily Caller wants me to be outraged.
Equally clear is that “data” and “reason” are two very scary words for woke progressives who believe both to be inherently racist functions of the white patriarchy.
So, perhaps I’m not terribly exercised over this gotcha moment. After all, we can only test what we measure — which is what our Standards of Learning (SOLs) are designed to do and why they are so viscerally hated by the Virginia Education Association (VEA) whose mission nowadays seems to be to push parents away from children and then lament how student performance is lagging.
In fact, maybe we want more data and analytics. Yes, it can be done in a manner that protects privacy. Yes, we all know that education in Virginia requires better analytics. Yes, we know that charter schools and school choice must be a part of this schematic.
What scares the political left — of course — is that metrics mean that we get to hold a system that spends $12,000 per pupil each year to task.
In short, data and metrics are good. They are the two things that send shivers of fear up the spine of any bureaucrat. That we have an expert and innovator in the field at the helm of Virginia’s education system? One could imagine some public relations staffer clapping hands at the fact they got the story run in the conservative Daily Caller, but the fact of the matter is that Aimee Guidera’s approach with metrics is a sorely missing piece of education reform — and not just in Virginia.
If standards matter, data matters. Simple as that.
Cummings To Serve as Secretary of Finance of the Commonwealth of Virginia
From the Youngkin press team:
“Lowering taxes and restoring fiscal responsibility in Richmond is a primary focus of our Day One Game Plan, and Steve’s experience and expertise will help make sure we deliver real results for Virginians. Steve shares my vision of respecting Virginians’ hard-earned tax dollars and ensuring the Commonwealth’s budget is managed effectively and efficiently, and he has the skillset and leadership qualities that our team needs to make Virginia the best place to live, work, and raise a family,” said Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin.
Steve Cummings, a leader in Finance in the United States and abroad, and most recently President and CEO of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) in the Americas, will join the Youngkin Administration as the Commonwealth’s next Secretary of Finance.
Prior to his role at MUFG, Steve served as Chairman of UBS’s Investment Banking division in the Americas, served as Global Head of Corporate and Investment Banking at Wachovia Bank, and at Bowles Hollowell Conner & Co. where he was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
There are a few things that are striking me about these cabinet appointments so far:
- They are truly independent of the Virginia political class. None of these names with the notable exception of Caren Merrick have even touched Virginia politics in any serious or tangible way. Richmond insiders will argue that this means they will not have the relationships required to get things done. Washingtonians will note that Youngkin probably sees this as a plus — and what’s more, the independence means they cannot be bullied.
- Each of these picks could be a governor in their own right. Cummings is a former CEO of Mitsubishi Financial Group. Merrick is a former tech CEO who is devoted to developing leaders and not just cogs in an economic machine. Guidera isn’t just a reformer, but one on the same lines as Michelle Rhee who famously took on the District of Columbia’s failing school system. These aren’t just accomplished people — these are nationally accomplished people.
- None of them are overtly political; thus far, all of them are technocrats. Successful technocrats, one might add. People who like developing systems and then watching them work.
- Here’s where the whole concern of relationships and access goes by the wayside. Youngkin is building a center of gravity here, not just doling out appointments to people who did him favors in 2021. These are serious people, with serious backgrounds, and serious experience that make people serious about government… well… positively giddy.
Of course, there are a few pitfalls. Relationships do matter in Virginia. The bureaucracy isn’t precisely friendly to Republicans and hasn’t been since Reconstruction — yet it will yield to competent operators. House Republicans — eager to co-operate with the new governor — will still have to take on the House of Lords the Democratic-controlled Virginia Senate — and as General Jim Mattis reminds his Marines, the enemy (sic) does get a vote.
This column has been republished with permission from The Republican Standard.
