Apple CEO lambasts teacher unions

Houston Chronicle ^ | 02/16/2007 | April Castro

[abt87]

AUSTIN — 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.'"

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

[proxy_user]

Uh-oh. These pinkish CEOs/tycoons are what gives liberalism its $$$.

This might be a bit of a crack

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

Good for him.

[vetsvette]

Even a hard core leftist like Jobs can get it right once in a while. Of course, the politico's get it right too, but they "need" that union campaign money to much to be honest about it.

[alice_in_bubbaland]

Good News, someone with a brain.

[Lancey Howard]

???
I don't get why Jobs would say this.... I thought Jobs was a Democrat and supported Democrats financially?
Am I wrong about that, or is Jobs a hypocrite and an idiot?

[rovenstinez]

We'll translate these comments into Spanish for the Teachers Unions of Mexico,

[alice_in_bubbaland]

Aren't all dims hypocrite's and idiot's? At least, for once, he's making sense.

[alice_in_bubbaland]

LOL! Or Southern California.

[mgstarr]

Regardless his politics, he's a damn smart businessman.

[Caipirabob]

The brain drain must be reflecting on the bottom line somewhere.

[abt87]

Didn't he feature Rush in an ad campaign for Macs? I know that Apple tends to skew leftward, but even Jobs is a capitalist. Also, Michael Dell is a Republican.

[Kimmers]

Yet another reason why I want a MacBook....

[Rakkasan1]

look at his audience. just telling a group(" education reform conference") what they paid to hear him say.

if he were talking to an NEA audience , it would be a different speech.

[socialismisinsidious]

Well, maybe the libs will wake up and see all the other well intended programs that they created which have become bureaucratic jokes.

Probably not. Would not doubt it if these two, as they see the reality of government school, are calling for nationalized health care. (I know a lib who is doing just that..fool)

Liberals are such ideologues that they have to thoroughly mess things up before they get it, if they get it.

[Dinsdale]

Yep. Just telling them what they want to hear.

[Fiddlstix]

Bump

[abt87]

Public schools aren't a bad thing as a general concept, but they should be left up to state and municipal governments with as little intrusion from the likes of the teacher's unions as possible. Also, it should be noted that there is a trend in big cities to bring school districts under Mayoral control. Bloomberg, while a RINO, managed to get the NYC school system under his control and tame the bureaucrats with the same CEO argument.

[JoeSixPack1]

Jobs wants Mac addicted teachers to push his donated products. He gives away tons of computers to schools so teaching the teachers might be a problem.

[Vinnie]

Yet another reason why I want a MacBook...

Took the words right out of my...fingers.