Steve Jobs runs his big mouth again...

[Drake Tungsten]

Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs lambasted teacher unions today, claiming no amount of technology in the classroom would improve public schools until principals could fire bad teachers.

Jobs compared schools to businesses with principals serving as CEOs.

"What kind of person could you get to run a small business if you told them that when they came in they couldn't get rid of people that they thought weren't any good?" he asked to loud applause during an education reform conference.

"Not really great ones because if you're really smart you go, 'I can't win.'"

In a rare joint appearance, Jobs shared the stage with competitor Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Inc. Both spoke to the gathering about the potential for bringing technological advances to classrooms.

"I believe that what is wrong with our schools in this nation is that they have become unionized in the worst possible way," Jobs said.

"This unionization and lifetime employment of K-12 teachers is off-the-charts crazy."

http://nalert.blogspot.com/2007/02/apple-ceo-jobs-attacks-teacher-unions.html

What an *******...

[Kuciwalker]

Apple

[Drake Tungsten]

Kuci's been drinking the Kool-Aid again...

[DinoDoc]

That probably didn't go down well.

[Kuciwalker]

Me on the right

[DinoDoc]

You're the preening jerk?

[Asher]

It's interesting that the career of the guy on the left is on the rise, and the guy on the right is in decline.

[Drake Tungsten]

Why's it surprising? How far could the guy on the right really go in his pottery career?

[Verto]

lol macs suck LOL

[MRT144]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker


Me on the right

you're the smug homosexual?

[MRT144]

You're the liberal arts major?

[Kuciwalker]

I am pwned

[snoopy369]

Jobs is probably right, as unPC as it was for him to say it

More aptly put, the lack of accountability of teachers in the public school system (both positively AND negatively; good teachers don't get paid that much more than bad ones, if any) is destroying our educational system in this country. It's too bad the Unions are unwilling to put their power to good use and instead prefer to protect the jobs of bad teachers

[notyoueither]

Why do you assume this situation only applies in the US, and why do you think this is why your primary and secondary school systems suck by and large?

[snoopy369]

I have minimal knowledge of educational systems outside of the US, so I don't pretend it might apply or might not apply. I simply make no comment about any non-US institutions.

I think the lack of accountability means teachers a) don't have to do a good job, and thus some don't; b) keep their job even if they are teaching poorly; and, most importantly, c) don't get meaningful feedback that they could use to improve their performance, like the rest of us working schmucks. As a result, the school system underperforms, just as my store would if the clerks had no accountability.