Rush Limbaugh spoke about Apple CEO Steve Jobs take on U.S. public education and unions today with quotes from April Castro’s article for the Associated Press:
In Austin, Texas, last week, “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.” He compared skrools 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.”
The bottom line here is when he says, “I believe what’s wrong with our schools in this nation is that they’ve become unionized in the worst possible way,” conservatives and just plain people with any common sense have been saying this for decades, but could they get put into the headlines of a story? No. Only if you’re a big lib, only if you’re a big Democrat, do you get applauded for this kind of talk.
I am happy and proud to be on the same page with Steve Jobs. The way to put it is, I’m happy and proud he’s on the same page with me. If he finds out I agree with him, he might change his mind. But I mean this is classic. This is an AP story. Do you know how many average, ordinary American people have been saying this? Do you know how many political candidates on the Republican side have been saying this, and when they say it, they get tarred and feathered and the NEA comes after ’em? Jobs says it, “Wow, why, we must really think about this. Why, there might be something here that we haven’t considered before,” blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Full transcript here.
Related articles:
Apple CEO blasts teacher unions, says US schools are ‘unionized in the worst possible way’ – February 16, 2007
Apple CEO Steve Jobs: ‘I’m going to just stay away from all that political stuff’ – August 25, 2004
Rush Limbaugh and Apple Computer to intro new podcast service via iTunes – March 08, 2006
Rush Limbaugh announces video podcasts for Apple iPod starting December 12th – November 30, 2005
Rush Limbaugh: ‘I am the hottest thing in podcasting’ – June 09, 2005
Rush Limbaugh and Apple Computer working to bring podcasts of radio show to iTunes Music Store – May 17, 2005
Rush Limbaugh says ‘Mac OS X Tiger Rocks,’ posts link to free Rush advertisement for Mac – April 30, 2005
The Hill: Put Rush Limbaugh on Apple’s board of directors; he could sell tons of Macs – January 26, 2005
Rush Limbaugh calls for Apple iCal to Sidekick solution – November 12, 2004
Rush Limbaugh: Why does Apple put politics first? – June 27, 2003
Rush Limbaugh comments on Gored Apple – March 21, 2003
USA there you go…
Greetings From The Best School System In The World
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Well, so long as Steve doesn’t start abusing painkillers and indulging in questionably legal sexual practices in the Caribbean we’ll be OK.
Good to see you back Finland, and I couldn’t agree more!
Wow, I can’t wait to hear the hate filled diatribe certain to follow from the Lefties after reading this story!
Please, don’t hold back, show your intolerence and be sure to denounce anyone not following in lock-step with your dogmas
Liberals have not tarred and feathered conservatives for asking for teacher accountability. It’s that liberals tar and feather conservatives for not proposing a plan that also takes into account the rights of unionized workers. Bad teachers need to go but not at the expense of other areas that make the effect moot.
No rant this time. I’ll just repeat once again, the solution to this problem is not nearly as clean and as simple as either Steve Jobs or Rush Limbaugh would have us believe. Until all the players in the education market are held accountable at roughly the same level, making it easier to fire “bad teachers” (however one chooses to define the term) would be like throwing a pitcher of water on a roaring inferno. A satisfying hiss, I suppose, but no real effect.
Go ahead, flame away!
That’s a nice picture of Rush.
“Liberals have not tarred and feathered conservatives for asking for teacher accountability. It’s that liberals tar and feather conservatives for not proposing a plan that also takes into account the rights of unionized workers. Bad teachers need to go but not at the expense of other areas that make the effect moot.”
Sure they have. Any time it is even mentioned there are huge backlashes and articles in papers, etc. As for “the rights of unionized workers”, what is it they are looking for that teacher accountability would ruin? Conservatives have also pushed for HIGHER teacher wages to encourage more better candidates to become teachers.
Whenever I see a quote from Rush Limbaugh, he’s whining. I thought conservative windbags like Rush were all about self-empowerment and avoiding the victim mentality, but every time I hear him talk he’s spouting off about how liberals and the liberal media pick on him and Republicans in general. Every day Republicans are sounding more and more like the libs they hate. Spend, spend, spend, bigger gov’t, bigger gov’t, bigger gov’t, whine, whine, whine. Republican or Democrat? Hard to tell the difference.
And I highly doubt the concept that unions were bad for schools originated solely from Rush (i.e. “Steve agrees with me”. What an effin’ ego). The two brain cells that aren’t awash in pain meds keep his fat ass body standing upright, and don’t have time for actual complex thinking.
And I know a case of good teachers quitting because of a bad Principal who was backed by a bad superintendant
MDN must need hits. Nothing attracts trolls in like invoking “Rush” on this site.
Let’s see how long it takes to descend to slashdot levels and beyond…
You guys remind me of people I met from Norway who said something similar. When I asked them how they managed to educate so many people from disparate ethnic and national backgrounds, they responded, “Oh, immigrants have their own schools” separate from the majority.
Oh.
Here, that was outlawed in 1954 because that’s considered racial discrimination, though segregation still exists in some form in urban settings, in particular. I ask you– if you have a large degree of ethnic heterogeneity, how does your country solve this? I recall hearing something about the Sami people– have they been an issue as they have been elsewhere?
I ask because it’s easy to work with everyone if you’re all on the same page (read: color, ethnic heritage, hockey team). Smaller is easier, too. That’s why in the US, you may hear of how bad the education system is as a whole, while the reality is that there are thousands of local systems that are excellent.
Just wondering what it’s like for you guys way up there in the cold north. Based on your tone, it sounds like you may have perfection.
HR
Way to pick apart his point of view.
You really showed where he is wrong and you are right.
Ever consider where you see most of those quotes?
Ever bother to listen with an open mind?
You actually proved his point.
Aren’t hemorrhoids a pain in the ass?
It curdles my stomach to read “Rush Limbaugh” and “Steve Jobs” in the same sentence.
Steve should have known to keep his mouth shut. You attract the bigots and idiots and drug addicts if you’re not too careful.
before this thread gets taken over by the political wanks who can only think of issues in terms of US left and right (which is to say far right and far far right from most of the rest of democratic world), i have one basic question: what sort of system of accountability would people like for public schools?
Supposing we all, as taxpayers, agree that there should be some way of tracking who is wasting our money and making life more difficult for their students, the question to be answered is how do we find these people out and get rid of them. Still with me? The next question to ask is: are unions making it easier or more difficult to get rid of the incompetent? I think the answer to that one is clear. Once we agree about that, the rest is just haggling over price.
The industrial revolution was a long long time ago. We now have wage and work safety laws to protect workers from abuse by the factory owners. With these things firmly in place, why do we need unions again?
As you were …
the problem is when Rush says it, it’s pure ideology. He’s just saying it because it’s the Republican talking point. It doesn’t apply to every single instance (which is the downfall of ideologies)… in this case, there’s something to it.
predictably, Rush loses when he isn’t thoughtful. I like that Steve Jobs decided to say something that might not help his company’s sales in one particular state. He’s got a point.
The problem is, where do bad teachers come from? There’s a shortage of teachers as it is, firing them would give you a WORSE problem. Better to have continuous teacher traning, and better feedback mechanisms.
I mean, come on, when they make 30 grand, you think there are droves of new teachers graduating every year? Steve’s advice would be kamikaze on the American school system.
Maybe if we paid them more…
Oh wait, that’s a liberal point of view. Doh!
Mike
I don’t see where paying someone their value is considered a liberal point of view. Seems more like common sense, which should transcend idology, and is the reason Rush and Jobs agree on this.
It’s glib and fascile for both Jobs and Limbaugh (and the conservatives who commented above, and probably below) that the problem with education is “bad teachers”, and if we could just fire them, all of our problems will be solved.
The fact is that Limbaugh and other conservatives hate unions, no matter whether they do a good job or not. Schools are a perfect example of the so-called “market” not working, because you get most teachers working their asses off for very little pay, and doing a damned good job with little support.
Meanwhile, some jerk-off CEO (not Jobs) can basically run his/her company into the ground on a multi-million dollar salary, and if (god forbid) the board — comprised of his/her buddies and corporate peers — wants to fire him/her, he/she gets a multi-million dollar severance package.
Maybe the problem with education in this country is that we don’t value it as a society. After all, some kids still manage to get educated pretty well in the same school districts where others do not, and — even correcting for their socioeconomic advantages over the others — it is possible to get a decent education in a lot of places in this country. Those that don’t either don’t value it enough, or live in places where the schools have been allowed to fall into decrepitude.
And that has nothing to do with “bad teachers” or the ability to fire them …
Is those goddamn books. Burn the motherfsckers!
I think I’d rather have Steve agree with Bill Gates…yuck…
Yeah, Rush, isn’t it funny that when you are a loudmouthed, arrogant, obnoxious blowhard that noone listens to you (except people who think exactly the same way you do) and when someone who is accomplished, respected and admired (Steve Jobs) speaks, people listen.
Maybe it has nothing to do with being a Republican or a Democrat. Maybe the moderates (aka: the rest of us) are the ones who are willing to listen to rational, thoughtful and intelligent people regardless of their background and won’t tolerate listening to blowhards, regardless of their background, even if they happen to be “right” with the content of what they are saying.
As my mother told me… consider the source.
If there’s two things I hate it’s Rush Limbaugh and over demanding power house unions. The unions need to be controlled for sure, but Rush just needs to be lethally injected. Steve Jobs isn’t on the same page as Rush, because Jobs has potential to do something past breath fire about ideas that are different from his, and although some would argue to the contrary, Jobs doesn’t try to convince his peers that he “knows everything”, anyone familiar with Rush Limbaugh’s Show has heard his bridges from commercials to his show and can’t argue otherwise.
I’d be more likely to support Jobs on this (and, I suppose, Rush) if someone could give me a definition of a “good” and “bad” teacher, and who gets to decide which is which. I know at least half a dozen school teachers (including friends and family) and I’ve heard from ALL of them that teaching is pure politics: what classes you teach, what students you get, what classroom you work in, all of it.
How do you judge is a teacher is teaching well if they dump half a dozen “special” kids in their class. Or what if all the smart kids are tracked into a lousy teacher’s class?? Based on test scores, they’re going to be a “great” teacher, right? This kind of stuff happens now — imaging how bad it’ll get when money and careers are on the line.
That said, I have no idea how to “fix” the schools. I mean, how can you regulate that every student wants to learn, and every teacher brings their best game to work every day? You just can’t.
the real problem: Is those goddamn books. Burn the motherfsckers!
except for the Bible, i presume?
Well, Rush has been saying this for years, that much is true. But he claims liberals are praising Jobs for this. Who is doing that? I’ve read several articles ripping Jobs a new one for his stance. Wired’s Leander Kahney is the latest bozo to take Jobs to task.
Unions can be just as self serving as any greedy corporation. Protecting an incompetant workers jobs is just as abusive as coporate downsizing or outsourcing to save a buck. I work for a company that does business with unions and if you could see the backroom dealing, fraud, politics, and ego trips that I see you would be just as disgusted as I am by their pretentious and self righteous clamouring over workers rights and corporate abuse. Hypocrites.