MATT DAMON!

"Maybe you're a shitty cameraman, I don't know!"

I'd fistbump him for this little snippet.

That made my morning.

I was so loving his hair and shirt and sharp tongue and all. Then the wonk-eyed kid in the orange shirt pulled off the perfect videobomb. Awesome.

Um, did that Libertarian "reporter" really just say that Matt Damon has to work hard as an actor because otherwise he would face job insecurity?

WTF!

I'm pretty sure that Matt Damon is so rich that he never has to work another day in his life.

What a douche.

What's the deal with that incongruous Good Will Hunting clip? Doesn't belong in there at all.

Hahahaha. Totally hot, and smart too. I love him even more.

Some people forget, his only Academy Award was for writing the screenplay for Good Will Hunting (which he wrote in his mid-20s). Matt Damon is not a dummy.

@6

The whole clip has the "reason tv" stamp, which is the logo on the reporter's microphone. So I'm guess the intention for splicing it is to mock Damon.

As much as I'm a liberal, atheist progressive... I didn't find Matt Damon to be particularly persuasive in this. While there are many teachers who are talented, hard-working, and passionate, this only means that the system should reward them much more (he references this with "long hours/shitty pay"), NOT maintain the current system which protects lemons.

Because while he brings up the good teachers, there are also undeniably shitty teachers who can't get fired, to which hundreds of children are subjected to because we can't be grown-ups about it and fire them.

Intelligent teacher reform doesn't consist of simply penalizing and demonizing teachers as a whole -- many of us who wish for the union's end desperately want it to reward the excellent teachers he's referring to.

@9 Or maybe we can start paying teachers what they're worth.

Remember, we pay teachers according to the tax base of the districts they're in.

So a teacher working on Mercer Island gets paid much more than a teacher working in Compton.

Let's continue blaming teachers and not the parents or society in general.

WTF!

@9,
The problem with that though, is that eliminating tenure would NOT change the system into one that fires bad teachers and rewards good ones. It would change the system into one that hires the cheapest labor possible, regardless of talent.

The best teachers could only be afforded by the wealthy communities to be placed in private schools, the worst teachers would be the only ones left for public schools.

Capitalism and the free market is a great system for stuff that's unnecessary: TVs, stereos, bubblegum, ice skates, etc. Capitalism and the free market sucks for anything that's a necessity: Health care, education, criminal justice, defense, etc.

Gonna share that with the coworkers.

You know, Damon never really did it for me. But right now, this middle aged teacher is feeling the schwing!

Yep, that's definitely a shitty cameraman. For a one-minute interview, his arm wouldn't fall off if he was trying to hold the camera steady, like in one place. You know, not moving around all over?

And education funding sucks. And libertarians suck more. You want talent and professionalism and dedication, but you want to treat everyone like Micky D's employees? Fuck off.

@9 Shitty teachers can be fired! You're just repeating the right wing talking point that they've been planting for years - part of the GOP/Faux News "it may not be true, but if we repeat it enough, it will become the truth" mantra. Unions protect the process, not the teacher, and any administrator worth his or her salt can document appropriately and get rid of someone who is truly shitty. Keep in mind that just because a teacher wasn't the best fit for your kid doesn't mean they're a shitty teacher. I've heard one set of parents complain about a teacher and how presumably awful they were and shouldn't be teaching. Then another set of parents is raving about that same teacher and how good that person was for their child. Who is correct? And what if the administrator likes one teacher better because they don't question his authority while another one does - is that a fair way to dole out "merit pay", something that keeps coming back again and again even though it has been proven not to work (NYC was trying it back in the 20s, then it had a resurgence in the 70s, and again now - peer reviewed research doesn't show any effectiveness).
Down south, most of the states are right-to-work states and have some pretty shitty schools, teachers, salaries, and test scores. Teachers cannot bargain their working conditions (class size, available materials, safe schools, student support staff ratios) and the kids pay the price. Good teachers leave to teach in private schools or move to other states. States with unionized teachers have better salaries, better working conditions, better test scores. I know I'd rather have my kid in a school where teachers are better compensated so they don't have to work additional jobs (detracting from their attention to the classroom), where most materials needed are available, and where teachers have a say in how things are run and the conditions they work under so that they are able to focus on what is most important - teaching.

@9 - Why do people think if you're in a union, you can't get fired?

@9, the problem is that the talk coming from the anti-tax crowd highlights the systems protection of lemons, yet offers nothing to do away with the lemons while screwing over all of them.

If teachers just want to teach and teach well regardless of the incentives, why not eliminate tenure and reduce their salaries some more? According to Matt, taxpayers would get the same performance out of them, and it would cost us less.

Sure there are bad teachers. They are paid so little, and so few go into it out of love for teaching, that you are going to get bad teachers. I was coaching swim teams while working on a math degree. Parents were begging me to go into teaching. There was no way that was going to happen. Coaching kids was one of the greatest jobs of my life, but I was not about to try and live off a teacher's salary and put up with all the shit they have to tolerate.

Matt Damon is pure awesomeness.

I love Matt Damon!!

Okay, I'll tell you how.

One, principals need to follow the process. It is a detailed process to get rid of a bad teacher and that's because if you made it easy, every principal with a grudge would be getting rid of teachers that he/she doesn't like. It can be done and I know this because the principal at Roosevelt High School got rid of not one but two bad teachers in a year's time. (Sadly, my kid had both these teachers but at least they aren't there anymore.) But it takes effort and time and some principals just won't do it.

Two, bigger picture. Matt had part of it right. Pay them better. You want better people? Pay for them. Teaching gets this rap of the mediocre and lesser college students. Want the cream of the crop? Pay them.

Three, bigger picture as well. If you aren't going to pay better, treat them better. In Finland, Japan, Korea, etc. they revere teachers and treat them accordingly. They recognize that these are the people shaping the minds of the next generation. You might want to give them some respect instead of demonizing them and their profession. Quit saying they only work 9 months a year. Quit expecting them to bring in school supplies out of their own pockets.

@24- Great last point. The national dialogue about teachers is lowering the status of the profession in everyone's eyes. Honestly, how can we expect smart and motivated young people with potential to step into the role of national punching bag?

"you think job insecurity is what makes me work hard?" & "a teacher wants to teach" ... You go Matt! thanks for 'hitting the nail on the head' . . . I just retired from teaching, & in all those years "incentives" were not the proverbial 'carrot stick' for me. Even after I reached tenure, I studied hard & brainstormed to be more creative in my teaching & to turn my students on to the joy of learning for the rest of their lives. From following their progress (& from the letters I receive,) I know I accomplished my goal...so I sleep very well at night.

"many of us who wish for the union's end"

"I'm a liberal, atheist progressive"

You're doing it wrong.

Watching a 5 year old's lightbulb go on for the first time when they read that first set of words....priceless. Circle time, science corner, centers, playground...lol....when mom and dad are carrying their lunch and back back for them, and they stop and grab them to carry "by themselves" into class...big hug goodbye, no tears, on to business....Kindergarten. Remember?

Thanks to Damon for calling out the stupidity about teaching profession. Then I read comments with more cliches and lies. Fact! Educators have the lowest pay for a six-year degree besides social work. The bizarre envy/grudge about "summers off" is pure bullsh*t ! We are laid off without pay for 3 months a year. During that time we are required to return to graduate school for classes to retain our certification. And we get to fork over$3-$5k in tuition for this pleasure. We might get 1-2 weeks to do a cheap family vacation. Other "vacations" we supposedly get are timed at grading times when we comment on student term projects and calculate grades for 170 students. Most of us spend $2-$3k per year on classroom supplies/books. If one who did not love the work with his/her subject matter and students, why would anyone put up with this? You do this career for love. When students sense you are doing it as a "job", they eat you alive. Teachers operate on hope - that class sizes and working conditions will get better because those working conditions are the students learning conditions. People who comment here & bash teachers/unions/schools need to spend a day shadowing a teacher or doing a job trade for a day. You could not keep up, nor would you care for the pay. You have no idea how pathetically uninformed and bitter and disrespectful you are being to people doing difficult work with the nation's most valuable resource.

Matt Damon just made my hero list.