Steve Jobs Believes The teachers' unions are ruining America's schools

BMERGRL · #7 02-21-2007, 12:20 AM

I am an English teacher in a suburban district and I must say, I have mixed feelings about all that Jobs purports (I must preface this post by saying I am not BMERGRL...she is my partner...forgive me, I don't drive a BMW, but I love the forum). Tenure, not unions, in fact, pose problems in education because there are teachers who have no business "playing" the part of an educator. After five years, many teachers assume the role of the slack-ass who need not work to better the lives and education of their students(because yes, it is nearly impossible to be fired), however, these teachers are thankfully in the minority.
The voucher system, if pushed through in many states, will be the demise of public education. ALL students deserve EQUAL educational opportunities, but it is true that teachers are under-trained; most teachers are among the most educated people in our population, however, we are under-trained in dealing with the rapidly changing demographics we are finding in our schools.
Unfortunately, there is no easy answer. The educational system is incredibly flawed...it is what it is. The only control educators have is to continue to dedicate ourselves to our students...KEA29, we need you!