Actor Matt Damon defends teacher tenure in testy exchange

[CivicDew]

My wife CivicJen is middle school teacher, so thanks for silencing the reporter Matt.

(NSFW)



Actor Matt Damon got into a tense exchange with a journalist from the libertarian Reason TV site after she asked him whether teachers with tenure would lack incentive to work hard at their jobs.

The journalist argued that Damon has an incentive to work hard as an actor because he lacks job security, while teachers do not.

"You think job insecurity makes me work hard?" the actor asked in disbelief. "A teacher wants to teach. Why else would you take a sh*tty salary and really long hours and do that job unless you really love to do it?"

Damon was speaking at Sunday's Save Our Schools rally, where thousands of teachers and educators descended on Washington D.C. to protest the Obama administration's education policies. The rally wasn't organized by either of the major teachers' unions, according to the Washington Post's Valerie Strauss, but was a grassroots protest against the focus on standardized testing, No Child Left Behind, and what protesters say is the scapegoating of teachers for problems such as childhood poverty.

 

[webby]

there are amazing teachers, and then there are teachers who are burnt out. Let's face it, not all teachers are there because they love it. (unfortunately)

some nws audio

 

[KennyGS]

Anyone willing to see what some of the problems are, should watch the film "Waiting For Superman."

 

[webby]

trailer



I've not heard of this movie - I'll have to check it out

 

[CivicDew]

Nice trailer. I'd like to watch that movie.

To some extent I blame technology for distracting kids. Most school around here have been banning and taking cell phones b/c kids will ask to go to the bathroom then just go in there and text up a storm. MANY of the areas around me are considered low income, and school are struggling financially, and having to move around or fire good teachers. If they want to raise teachers salaries by nearly double then I say take away tenure. Schools are so political or what people call the "good ol' boy system" around here, meaning you have to have a certain last name, know someone, or just get lucky when they're hiring to get in. Most of the kids see their parents collecting Government checks and say, "why do I need to go to school if I don't have to work to get paid when I get out of school?" Sad but very true! My wife teaches Science and makes it interesting for them which is why the kids love her. You can't put the blame solely on the teachers, the parents need to be held accountable as well. My mom would threaten to bust our *** if we didn't finish our homework before going outside.

Before I finished HS internet had been around us for 2-3 years and we had slow PCs, on dial-up, running WIN95, used 3.5 floppies, and the only social thing to do online was chat via ICQ. Times have changed, kids & parents attitudes have changed, and even the motivation to go to college has changed. College is getting more expensive and no one wants to owe student loans for the rest of their life, and most four year degrees like computer science, programming, etc. change every two years. The entire economy is struggling so even the motivation of leaving this area to find a good job is slowly slipping away. I don't know what its going to take. If you considered how much extra non-paid time my wife puts in then the school district would need to increase her pay by at least 25%.

Video says US kids are the most motivated but that's only when it comes to sports and making crazy vids etc. People in other countries like Mexico or even India where the average per capita income is $1,200 people tend to try harder to make it here and better their situation. American kids are getting too comfortable and lazy and the depression and stress sweeping through our country is just like throwing gas on a fire. I don't know what its going to take.

 

[webby]

US kids are most "confident", not motivated. So, they're thinking they have it in the bag, or know what they're doing etc.

 

[CivicDew]

very true

 

[Damaca]

There are crappy teachers, I will say that. My 6th grade teacher was one of them. BUT if there is one group of people who I will not belittle or insult for doing what they do, its teachers. They do get paid crap. They do work crap hours. The problem with the American education system isn't the teachers, its politicians and parents. Politicians squabble over money. Parents squabble over who's responsibility it is to raise their children when it has always been theirs.

I love his comment, "Maybe you're a shitty cameraman. I don't know..."

 

[CivicDew]

I had a horrible 3rd grade teacher. We were so far behind going into 4th that we basically had to learn everything from 3rd again. Teacher didn't want to do anything and basically let us watch a movie 2-3 times a week.