I discovered a rather horrifying account of a reported speech by Steve Jobs about the state of public education in this country. Steve has a long history of taking pot-shots at teachers' unions, and this was no exception. As is typical, he still is really focusing on the wrong problems in his rant:
Shut it, Steve. Let's look at the Bay Area as a microcosm, because I guarantee Steve is looking no further. If the root of our nation's education problems are these terrifying, unfirable teachers, then why aren't the public Palo Alto high schools -- where you live -- cesspools of squalor? Why are they regarded as being among the finest high schools in the country, public or private? Last I checked, they are unionized.
Could it be that the quality of education at a school is determined by factors other than the ability of principals to fire "bad teachers"? Could it be that the reason why school is a scary place to go in parts of Oakland, East Palo Alto and San Francisco is because the students come from poor socioeconomic status, while their Palo Alto peers mostly come from Silicon Valley millionaire families?
Perish the thought. It must be that all the bad teachers went to the other schools, and the principals can't fire them now. What a pity. Or could it be that instead top talent teachers who want the best students in the world go to Palo Alto because they know its reputation and ability to pay for top talent. And only teachers who care about making a real difference in the lives of poor students go to the disadvantaged districts.
But no. It must be the teachers' unions. That's the reason why rural schools in North Dakota can't get the best teachers in the world to come and live on a $16,000 salary. It must be that the bad teachers have a death grip on the system. That's obviously what it is.
Give me a break.
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