Do college degrees make leaders better? #tellusatoday

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a potential Republican presidential candidate, didn't graduate from college. Is that a problem? Letter to the editor:

I agree wholeheartedly with columnist Glenn Harlan Reynolds' views about Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and education. If after attending a prestigious college, you come out with a mind-set like Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, higher education is a waste of time and money ("Scott Walker's national education effect: Column").

However, Reynolds suggested that Democratic spokesman Howard Dean implied Walker's lack of a college degree meant he was "not our kind, dear." That comment is an attempt to get struggling workers to feel a kinship with Walker although he hates labor, especially unionized labor. Whether Walker has a degree is not the issue. His party affiliation says he is not a friend to the middle class.

M. W. Schwartzwalder; Walden, N.Y.

Comments from Facebook are edited for clarity and grammar:

Harry Truman and Abe Lincoln did not graduate from college either, and they were effective leaders.

And judging by the current crop of trash that comes out of our institutions of supposed higher learning, I would say that Scott Walker not being a graduate is a plus.

— Anthony Perlingos

How extraordinary that we live in a time when education, critical thinking skills, knowledge of history, and intelligence are not virtues but the mark of the elite. I reject the idea that "good old common sense" with a dollop of superstition makes one suitable for leadership.

Perhaps if we had a more educated electorate, we'd have better leadership in this country.

— Paul Beighley

Education, by whatever means, is not a negative. But just because Walker doesn't have a college degree doesn't mean he's a bumpkin only fit for a minimum-wage job.

The questions for a potential candidate include: Can he use critical thinking to judge his ideas and those of others? Is he just a partisan panderer?

— Dan Porath

We asked our followers how valuable a college degree is nowadays.

It isn't for everyone, and the importance depends upon the major.

— @bijancbayne

It could be tremendously important or not. It depends on the ambition of the student. Degrees don't produce; people do.

— @friedrichsgroup

For me, nothing compared to the life lessons of self-discipline and self-sufficiency like my four years in college.

— @WondHerful

You don't need a degree to be a genius or incredible entrepreneur. But sadly, it's a job requirement.

— @SlickPulp

Today it is about who you know, not where you go to school or your résumé.

— @TheAndreBeckles

A college degree is part of a job application checklist, but what really makes you employable is who you know.

— @madisonbmiles

A master's is the new bachelor's. We have manufactured an economic crisis without achieving our academic goals in K-12.

— @keelybshannon

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