The Center for Mexican American Studies presents Aurelio Nuño, who will speak on "The Hidden Paradox of Education and Democracy: Power, Political Mobilization, and the Quality of Education." 

Aurelio Nuño is a Mexican politician. He received a degree in political science at Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City (2002) and a master's degree in Latin American History at St. Antony's College, University of Oxford (2008). He was chief of staff of the President of Mexico (2012-2015) and Minister of Education (2015-2017). As Minister of Education, he articulated one of Mexico's most comprehensive and ambitious education reforms in many decades. He is a visiting scholar at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and is writing a book on the comparative politics of education. He also co-founded an ed-tech startup focused on closing the digital skill gaps in Latin America.

The Hidden Paradox of Education and Democracy: Power, Political Mobilization, and the Quality of Education. There is a hidden paradox in many democracies, both in developed countries such as the United States and in developing countries like Mexico. Teachers' unions have an extraordinary capacity for political mobilization. This enormous power is directed toward elections, protests, and lobbying. For this reason, political parties, governments, and teachers' unions converge to establish a mutually beneficial status quo: the iron triangle of education. The paradox is that though the iron triangle positively impacts increasing public spending in education, it is the main obstacle to developing teacher professionalization policies, which are essential to improving both educational quality and equity. The conflict that emerges from this paradox is crucial for the development of democracies in the 21st century because education is vital for developing human capabilities and for people to have the freedom to choose the life they value most. Both the problem and the solution to the paradox are a matter of politics rather than policy.

Refreshments to follow after the event.