Fran Tarkenton's WSJ Op-Ed piece
So, according to an October 3rd op-ed in the Wall Street Journal - What if the NFL Played by Teachers' Rules - Fran Tarkenton thinks schools would be better off if they were run like the NFL – in other words, the best teachers get the big pay raises instead of the tenure system, the unions would have little power, etc. To prove his point, he contemplates an alternate universe where the NFL is run like the public education system.
But so, let’s say the public education system is run like the NFL as per Mr. Tarkenton’s wishes. The teachers would be the players, of course, the principal would be the coach, the administrators would be the owners, and the teacher union would be the – wait, what? There’s actually a players union? Oh yeah – the National Football League Players Association. Anyway, so students are what? The opposing team? I suppose they’d be the spectators. They’d have to pay high ticket prices to attend, of course, and if they want to eat, they’d have to pay exorbitant amounts for non-nutritious meals. (You can’t pack your own school lunch, obviously.) Oh, and high school students - if you want to drive to school, you'll have to pay a premium to park within easy walking distance of the school entrance.
Anyway, so only a certain number of urban areas would get an education ‘franchise’ – only those areas that can afford it.
The excellent teachers would get paid millions of dollars. This is awesome! They’d get high paying endorsement deals, and then retire in their thirties, since why continue working when you’re a multi-millionaire? And besides – all the performance enhancing drugs they had to take to make it to the top have really burned them out.
The mediocre teachers would only be making salaries in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, of course.
Hopefully, the teachers will be satisfied with their salaries, because if not, and they feel they deserve a bigger share of the students’ dollars than the administrators are keeping, there might be a lockout.
Look, I watched Fran Tarkenton play football when I was a kid in the 70’s. He was a great quarterback and fun to watch. I’m a Minnesotan, and I know how his mark on the Vikings is deep and still felt by fans. He deserves his place in the Football Hall of Fame.
But – to continue the player/teacher analogy – if he were a public school teacher, I’m guessing he’d be one of those cranky old bastards that could no longer handle a classroom full of kids. And since – in his ideal scenario – tenure won’t save him, I’m guessing he’d be long past his teaching prime and would be out on his ass, writing idealistic, unrealistic op-eds to earn a living.
But so, let’s say the public education system is run like the NFL as per Mr. Tarkenton’s wishes. The teachers would be the players, of course, the principal would be the coach, the administrators would be the owners, and the teacher union would be the – wait, what? There’s actually a players union? Oh yeah – the National Football League Players Association. Anyway, so students are what? The opposing team? I suppose they’d be the spectators. They’d have to pay high ticket prices to attend, of course, and if they want to eat, they’d have to pay exorbitant amounts for non-nutritious meals. (You can’t pack your own school lunch, obviously.) Oh, and high school students - if you want to drive to school, you'll have to pay a premium to park within easy walking distance of the school entrance.
Anyway, so only a certain number of urban areas would get an education ‘franchise’ – only those areas that can afford it.
The excellent teachers would get paid millions of dollars. This is awesome! They’d get high paying endorsement deals, and then retire in their thirties, since why continue working when you’re a multi-millionaire? And besides – all the performance enhancing drugs they had to take to make it to the top have really burned them out.
The mediocre teachers would only be making salaries in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, of course.
Hopefully, the teachers will be satisfied with their salaries, because if not, and they feel they deserve a bigger share of the students’ dollars than the administrators are keeping, there might be a lockout.
Look, I watched Fran Tarkenton play football when I was a kid in the 70’s. He was a great quarterback and fun to watch. I’m a Minnesotan, and I know how his mark on the Vikings is deep and still felt by fans. He deserves his place in the Football Hall of Fame.
But – to continue the player/teacher analogy – if he were a public school teacher, I’m guessing he’d be one of those cranky old bastards that could no longer handle a classroom full of kids. And since – in his ideal scenario – tenure won’t save him, I’m guessing he’d be long past his teaching prime and would be out on his ass, writing idealistic, unrealistic op-eds to earn a living.
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