Letters of remembrance and bouquet of roses litter the windows of nearly every Apple retail store across the country, all remembering the innovative man whose bright ideas lead to the formation of an empire, touching nearly every aspect of our lives.  More than just iPhones and Macbooks, Steve Jobs served as an iconic genius whose ideas stretched far beyond tech gadgets.  The Heartland Institute recently uncovered an interview Jobs gave to the Smithsonian Institution in 1995 [full interview here].  In the interview, Jobs discusses his ideas on technology and education.

As exemplified by the cutting-edge aspect of his business, Jobs was a big believer in competition as a means of spurring innovation and excellence.  Education was no exception.   In order to inspire competition, Jobs enthusiastically supported the idea of school choice, giving each parent the amount of money the state puts into the public school system to determine where they would like to send their children.  Putting parents in the driver's seat would create more of a consumer atmosphere in the education industry, with a product of better-rounded and intellectually curious future generations. 

Widespread school choice would not only lead to increased competition between current players, but would also lead to more of a free market system, opening up the industry to new, and more innovative schools.  

"I've suggested as an example, if you go to Stanford Business School, they have a public policy track; they could start a school administrator track," said Jobs.   "You could get a bunch of people coming out of college tying up with someone out of the business school, they could be starting their own school. You could have 25-year-old students out of college, very idealistic, full of energy instead of starting a Silicon Valley company, they'd start a school."

I believe that they would do far better than any of our public schools would," continued Jobs. 

One player of the current American public education system that Jobs noted as stifling competition werethe teachers unions.  Calling them the "worst thing that ever happened to education", Jobs said unions have transformed schools into bureaucracies as teachers and administrators that consistently fail students cannot be fired.   The unions desire to maintain the status quo is something that Jobs suggested is preventing our education system from being able to provide all students with a high quality education. 

Fast forward 16 years since the interview took place and while some progress has been made in expanding education, much work remains to be done.  Drawing on Jobs' as an inspiration, school choice needs to be expanded, giving more children the opportunity to receive an education that works for their them.  Also, innovation in the classroom, like modernization in business and technology must be embraced, not feared. 

Let's let Jobs' legacy live in the classroom beyond the computers and gadgets our students use.