Better link to eSchool News Article - Steve Jobs Criticizism of Teacher Unions

eSchool News online - Jobs, Dell appraise technology, schools



According to Jobs, no amount of technology can hope to improve schools, until principals and superintendents have the ability to make personnel decisions independent of union oversight. If schools really want to perform like businesses, Jobs said, the first step is for administrators to start acting more like CEOs, and less like bureaucrats.

"What kind of person could you get to run a small business if you told them (sic) that when they came in they couldn't get rid of people that they thought weren't any good?" he asked. "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."


Aware that his remarks were likely to cause a stir among many in the audience, Jobs later said: "Apple just lost some business in this state, I'm sure." When contacted by an eSchool News reporter about his remarks at the summit, Apple said it didn't plan to release any further statements.