VAW: Steve Jobs Tells Schools to Fight Teacher Unions

Steve Jobs lambasted teacher unions at an education conference in Austin, Texas last Friday claiming that no amount of technology in the classroom would improve public schools until principals could fire bad teachers. Jobs shared the stage with rival CEO Michael "Apple should shut down" Dell to deliver their vision of computers in classrooms. Jobs compared schools to businesses and principals to 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?" Jobs asked. "Not really great ones because if you're really smart you go, 'I can't win.'"

Well, well, Mr. Jobs, what happened to the liberal-idealistic world you grew up in during the late sixties and early seventies? I think Steve is right, but I suspect that most liberals would disagree with him. Jobs is definitely not a conservative. So why does he lean right on this issue? Simple, he has to operate in the real business world. Had he not become a business man having to make real decisions in the real world that affect the health and well-being of his company, I think he would never have come to this realization. The old axiom is true: when a person grows up or has to live and work in the real world, he or she tends to grow more conservative.

Steve is absolutely right, but I don't think he sees the solution in the same way that I see it. Not only should principals have the ability to disregard the teacher unions and fire incompetent teachers, but parents should have the right to spend their tax dollars in the accredited educational institution of their choosing. While Steve was right to say that schools should be run as businesses, unfortunately he didn't go far enough; schools should be run by businesses. That's right. Get the government out of the school business and let private institutions take over.

That is the solution. It would handle the teacher issues and schools would have to compete on quality. If the government insists on running public schools, let them compete for the tax dollars. Parents should be free to choose any school they want for their children. Currently, the public school system extorts money from citizens and forces them to send their kids to underperforming, politically correct, corrupt, inefficient, and failing public institutions. Only the very well off can afford to send their kids to private schools that cost a fortune, while at the same time paying school taxes to the public schools that they would have to send their kid to if they couldn't afford the extra cost of private schools. Let parents choose where they want to spend their hard-earned tax dollars that the government has compelled them to pay to the public system.

Steve is right about another thing. He is right when he claims that the best and brightest don't tend to become teachers or principals. Why? Who in his right mind would go to college to become a teacher only to earn a barely above poverty level salary after graduating in 4 years? Put the private sector to work in the school business and salaries will improve, schools will improve, and American students will once again excel to lead the world in science and technology. It is no wonder that teachers are underpaid. It is not that America doesn't funnel enough money into the educational system. We pay more per capita than just about every other advanced nation in the world. The problem is that schools waste money and operate inefficiently. It is a typical government problem. Get the private sector in the primary school business and these issues would clear up like magic. Teachers would earn more money and overall costs would decrease.

Steve, you are right. Schools in the U.S. are in terrible shape thanks to typical government inefficiency. Hopefully you will keep telling it like it is and keep those low-cost education Macs flowing into our public educational system.

Comments:

Schools are in terrible shape because children have no parents. Period.

Attila on Monday, February 19, 2007 at 13:15

I grew up in a poor family and had to work my way through college. We lived in the inner-city. The schools were terrible and I had to constantly worry about fighting. If it wasn´t for a good friend of the family, I probably would have never been influenced to study hard and go to college. The teachers didn´t care. They were just babysitters. If my parents could have taken me out of that lousy school, I would have been better prepared for college and would not have had to suffer through all that crap. Hookerman, you are right on the money and so is Jobs.

David K. on Monday, February 19, 2007 at 13:25

It is biologically impossible for children to not have parents. Were they grown in a test tube or something?

@Attila on Monday, February 19, 2007 at 16:08

I think he meant that some kids don´t have good parents. Of course, they all have parents. Good parents would care to send their kids to better schools. You shouldn´t penalize good parents who earn a lower income just because some parents are bad. Bad parents could care less where their kids go to school. I think that is really a separate issue. Jobs was correct. Schools are in bad shape not because of bad parents, but because of bad administrative policies.

JLK on Monday, February 19, 2007 at 18:32

Dude, I think you should stop listening to conservative talk radio.

P.K. on Tuesday, February 20, 2007 at 10:44

Actually, good parents get involved in the schools and make them better. If school choice actually worked the kids in the choice program in Milwaukee would outperform their public school counterparts, but they don´t, in fact they rarely even do as well. Before you dispute me, look at the 7 studies that have been done on the program and then compare school choice to the SAGE program to see which one is a better use of taxpayer money. While you are at it, check out which one´s funding is being cut. See if you can figure out why. (hint: educational achievement is not the driving force)
BTW, bad teachers are fired all the time, but like all employees in the US, they are entitled to fair treatment and due process.

WiJ on Wednesday, February 21, 2007 at 10:22

I have to comment on the previous comment. Communists and socialists will always look at you with a straight face and say that this statistic states this or proves that. I am always suspicious of people selectively picking out bits of data that support their opinion and disregarding data that does not. How could rotten systems like the old Soviet Union or Nazi Germany in WWII arise when the populations of these countries where highly literate and very sophisticated? Because they let government take over their lives. They believed the bureaucrats. They bought into the socialist agenda. Basically, socialists force you to obey their edicts at the barrel of a gun. They defend the rotten school system and try to throw sand over anything threatening to their control, i.e. letting the private sector operate free from their influence. You can pimp as many "government" studies as you want. I have about as much faith in government studies as I do government control of our school system.

JLK on Wednesday, February 21, 2007 at 17:54

Are you crazy? How do you go from schools should be able to fire underperforming teachers to Nazis in World War II? Have you considered buying a Windows PC? I think you would find more in common with other Windows users than Mac users.

@JLK on Wednesday, February 21, 2007 at 21:25

I have to agree with WiJ. Just because businesses are good at selling things doesn´t mean they are good at running schools. I think people should look at data from many sources and I suspect that the data would show that public schools perform better than for-profit schools. But I do agree with Steve Jobs. No one should be protected from losing his job if he is not performing.

Oliver on Wednesday, February 21, 2007 at 23:15

Hookerman, I think you might want to rethink your article. Jobs may agree with you more than you think. Here is what he said in 1995 concerning education: "The market competition model seems to indicate that where there is a need there is a lot of providers willing to tailor their products to fit that need and a lot of competition which forces them to get better and better." Check out the following link:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/micro-markets/?p=1008

Dan M. on Wednesday, February 21, 2007 at 23:44

Hookerman, I´m not sure I agree with the private sector taking over the public school system as a solution to the vast ever growing problem of education in this country, however, I do strongly agree with your point about parents having the right to put their hard earned tax dollars to work as they see fit. Unlike most, I ceased utilizing the public school system after 2nd grade, when my parents opted to take on the significant financial burden of home schooling me. They received no tax breaks for this, no compensation, and never once did they cease paying for the corrupt inefficient school system that had deemed me a "lost cause". Penalizing parents by forcing them to pay for a school system that cannot effectively educate their children is unconstitutional and wrong. Parents should be able to control the academic future of their children and how their income, whether limited or abundant, is spent. I applaud Jobs for his opinions as do I find it extremely encouraging that issues such as these can be discussed in an open and non-threatening environment. Fore the day that we as citizens of this world cease to question those in power is the day that our elected leaders shall become our keepers.

Gabe on Tuesday, February 27, 2007 at 19:26

Yeah, let’s privatize education. That works so well for energy and healthcare.

Ralph on Thursday, March 08, 2007 at 17:16

Actually, it works great for energy. I am so glad that I can choose another electric provider if the one I am using does not treat me right. Whenever you make something public, you get poor service and it tends to run the costs up. Jobs is right. The free market is way better than anything public.

KP on Friday, March 09, 2007 at 18:09