H.L. Menken famously noted that "the saddest life is that of a political aspirant under democracy. His failure is ignominious and his success is disgraceful."
With Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, and Hillary Clinton performing strongly in the national polls, as well as in the Iowa Caucuses, this observation acquires particular relevance. Is the political future of the American Republic stranded between the rocks of ignominy and the shoals of disgrace? Is America doomed to suffer countless indignities at the hands of another messianic presidential aspirant?
It was once a matter of common sense that teachers cannot teach what they do not know. And research supports the view that a teacher's knowledge of his or her subject area is, so far, the best and only predictor of student achievement.
