Candidate: Our city's students have suffered long enough. Over the mayor's four years in office, our district's math and science scores have hovered well below the national average, even while our average teacher's salary has increased. Our student-per-cl

The candidate avers that the incumbent mayor in the office has had a bad affect on the education system of the district .He substantiates this claim by stating that the district math and science scores are well below normal while the average teacher's salary has increased.He also mentions about the student per class ratio, and terms it laughable and jabs the mayor for not making any progress on building a new school.Hence, asks district people to vote for him instead of the current mayor in the upcoming elections, if they care about the education in the district.At first glance, this argument appears to be fairly convincing and coherent. However, upon closer examination, one finds that the argument stated by the opposition candidate is based on questionable assumptions, dubious facts and unsubstantiated reasoning and thus rendering the argument wholly unpersuasive.

To begin with, the candidate tries to pinpoint on the lower than average scores of the districts math and science subjects.But he does not provide the data to back up the claim.Also, there is a high possibility that even though the scores of math and science subject are still below average , they are improving continually with each passing year. On a similar analogy, the average teacher's salary might be very low previously, but now has come par with the teachers teaching in other districts. Hence, if seen this way, the mayor is actually working on improving the education profile of the district.So, one cannot really conclude anything just by stating that the scores of the math and science subjects are below average unless and until full data is shown.

Additionally, the math and science scores that the candidate talks about in comparison with the national average have been determined using what factors or studies.Were there any specialised tests conducted nationwide or some random study based.So, more light needs to be shed on the sources that state that the district math and science score levels are less than the national average score.

Furthermore, the candidate talks about the laughable student-per-class ratio.But, he fails to mention the actual numbers on it.Also, according to him, what would be ideal student-per-class ratio for the education system to improve in the district.Moreover, the candidate questions on the progress of building new school and uses it to taint the mayor's image.However, it is very much possible that the building assignment that the candidate talks about will soon be done.Precisely, more detailed information and hard facts are required .One cannot, conclude just on the basis of some talks only.

In a nutshell, the argument stated by the candidate for voting him as the next mayor of the district is not compelling enough.If he wants to convince people he should provide hard facts through which one can actually see that the mayor's term in the last 4 years has not been fruitful enough for the education sector of the district.Similarly, he should provide the actual source , on the basis of which he is alleging the mayor of lackadaisical approach to the education sector of the district.