Apple CEO lambasts teacher unions

Austin, Texas, Star-Telegram ^ | 02/16/2007 | April Castro

[Swordmaker]

AUSTIN - Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs lambasted teacher unions Friday, 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."

At various pauses, the audience applauded enthusiastically. Dell sat quietly with his hands folded in his lap.

"Apple just lost some business in this state, I'm sure," Jobs said.

Dell responded that unions were created because "the employer was treating his employees unfairly and that was not good.

"So now you have these enterprises where they take good care of their people. The employees won, they do really well and succeed."

Dell also blamed problems in public schools on the lack of a competitive job market for principals.

Earlier in the panel discussion, Jobs told the crowd about his vision for textbook-free schools in the future. Textbooks would be replaced with a free, online information source that was constantly updated by experts, much like the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.

"I think we'd have far more current material available to our students and we'd be freeing up a tremendous amount of funds that we could buy delivery vehicles with - computers, faster Internet, things like that," Jobs said. "And I also think we'd get some of the best minds in the country contributing."

[Swordmaker]

Steve Jobs - Teacher Unions bad...

Michael Dell - Teacher Unions good....

What?! Is the world turning over???

PING!

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.

[coconutt2000]

Just wait... Democrats/Liberals are going to insist that Steve Jobs submit to a DNA test to confirm that he hasn't been replaced by an alien, or Republican look-alike.

[Duke Nukum]

Me too, I'm totally confused now. I agree with Steve Jobs on something!

I just saw and privately scoffed at that Year of the Pig post and now I know I've met my DOOOOOM!!!!

Wait. Deep breath. I think I'll re-read it a few times. I must be missing something.

[George W. Bush]

Hmm... Steve is on a roll lately. New meds?

Anyway, school administrators and boards will totally suck this up. More sales to schools maybe.

And Dell will get more purchases from teachers.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

Wow.

I've always wanted to like Jobs. Maybe he's turning sane.

[Vicki]

Bravo to Steve Jobs! The eleven years I worked in a school district personnel office, not one time, never was a teacher fired.

[Tribune7]

My jaw has hit the floor.

What is Algore going to say?

I'd buy a MacBoork Pro except I just got one.

[zlala]

Michael Dell is making nice w/the teacher union, while Steve Jobs slammed them. Thought you'd be interested in reading this.

[daviddennis]

Steve Jobs is an interesting guy. He has a passion for what he does which is oddly missing in Gates and Ballmer. Well, Gates and Ballmer have a passion for pushing out their product to as many people as possible, but Jobs has a passion for making a great product, pure and simple.

I may not like Jobs politics (well, except for this particular stand, which is great), but I love the man's passion for his product and doing things insanely great. He's definitely achieved his life goal and ironically enough I don't think Gates or Ballmer have done that.

D

[SunkenCiv]

Okay, I'll admit it, that's twice in 2007 Jobs has endeared himself to me. :') Of course, he may just be trying to take the heat off Segolene Royal...

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

"He's definitely achieved his life goal..."

If his life's goal was to be the most accomplished businessman in the world, he certainly did achieve it. It's a rare businessman who has driven one important paradigm shift, much less two, and three or more is just unheard-of. But there's Jobs, having shown the way in personal computing, animated films, personal media and, next up, mobile telephones. Honestly, compare that to some other business greats: Jack Welch, Ted Turner, Gates... one-trick-ponies, mostly. Even Richard Branson has hardly blazed the kind of trails Jobs has. Just a remarkable guy. I only hope this teachers-union story is the first crack in the ice of his stoneheaded liberalism.

[george76]

why is apple better than a dell with bill's stuff ?

[PA Engineer]

Wow. BTTT.

[neb52]

Companies like MS, GE and etc. have gotten to big. This causes to many hands in the cookie jar of vision and so the vision gets greatly watered down. When you read about Apple employees working on a project it usually reads of a handful that create the vision and prototype. That allows brilliant ideas to stay intact, but it also allows bad ideas to go to market. MS and GE make "safe" products. Nothing daring or polished. Just steady and down the middle of the road.

[N3WBI3]

Youre calling windows 'safe'?

[miliantnutcase]

There's gonna be a knockdown drag out brawl at the next Apple board meeting. Gore is gonna want an explanation from Jobs!

[KoRn]

"Youre calling windows 'safe'?"

Of course it's safe. I have a windows machine that is unplugged from the network and is always shutdown. That thing never gets a virus or malware infection!

[neb52]

What do you mean? I am not talking about product specific. When a business gets to big per product, that product suffers. Either by any brilliant vision being suffocated or ridden down hill into oblivion. Your comment is to discuss the pros/cons of a specific product which has nothing to do with what I stated or the posters I responded to.

[RightOnline]

They don't get fired, period.....true. Shoot, when my #2 daughter was in high school (note that she is drop-dead gorgeous), she had a teacher hitting on her, making comments, ogling her, etc. I had her report him to the principal first (teaching her a lesson in 'escalation' of sexual harrassment........before I undertook to take the sumbitch apart myself). She did, they had words with him, and he still kept his job. Eventually he was gone, but it led me to wonder: what does it take to fire one of these idiots?