Steinberg is a jerk

I always thought Chicago columnist Neil Steinberg was a jerk, at least ever since he called the late, great Studs Terkel an "idiot". As a writer, Steinberg couldn't carry Stud's jock. It's not that Steinberg never writes anything worth quoting. He does and I have quoted his column from time to time. But as my guys at the gym often note, when my jump shot falls through the net, "the sun even shines on a dog's ass some days."

My feelings about Steinberg were confirmed the other day when he consciously misrepresented the views of newly-elected CTU prez Karen Lewis. His bull crap column thankfully didn't elude the critical eye of PURE's Julie Woestehoff.

Here's what Karen said (full speech here):

"Outside of the classroom, we need society to recommit to bettering all communities.  We also need our parents to recommit to the education of their children.  But inside the classroom, the only people who can improve our schools are professional educators.  Corporate heads and politicians do not have a clue about teaching and learning.  They have never sat one minute on this side of a teacher’s desk.  But they’re the ones calling the shots and we’re supposed to accept it as 'reform.' ”

Here's the "quote" Steinberg used: ""The only people who can improve our schools are professional educators."

Means something completely different out of context, doesn't it?

Smarmy Steinberg responds to Julie's letter with  an apology "clairifcation" right out of  Joe Barton's BP playbook.

Lewis represents a fresh start, and she shouldn't feel ill-used on her first day. We all need to try harder in this tight economy, and that includes me.

Steinberg is still as jerk.
 

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All this follows on the heels of an excellent Sun-Times commentary by another former CTU prez, Deborah Lynch ("Children are pawns in CPS plans to increase class size"). 

It's like a wake around here these days. It's hard to comfort colleagues who are leaving by no fault of their own. And it's hard to comfort the students who are also shell-shocked because so many of their favorite teachers are leaving.