Senator Johnson had a rough week this week. He got schooled by students, teachers and even Ken Burns over his suggestion to replace qualified teachers with TV. The proposal came when Johnson was asked at a WisPolitics luncheon about his plan to make college more affordable. Without a serious plan, Johnson resorted to the same extreme and out of touch ideology to which he’s always resorts. So what was his bold idea? Forget the teachers: sit kids in front of the TV for hours on end.
It only got worse from there. Educators panned his visions. One said, “it is somewhat akin to saying – ‘we’ve already got WebMD, why do we need medical researchers?” Even Ken Burns weighed in saying he’s here “to support teachers, not replace them.” You can’t make this stuff up.
Don’t believe us? You don’t need to take our word for it. Here’s just a few headlines (we don’t have room for all of them):
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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ken Burns Criticizes Johnson on Education
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Cap Times: Cap Times: Critics howl in response to Ron Johnson’s call to replace college instructors with videos
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WPR: UW System President: Ken Burns Cannot Replace Professors
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AP: Sen. Ron Johnson suggests swapping college instructors for videos
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WKOW: Ron Johnson Suggests Replacing College Professors with Videos
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Huffington Post: Ron Johnson: Ken Burns Documentaries Are Better At Teaching History Than Actual Teachers
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Education week: Can Ken Burns Documentaries Replace Teachers? A U.S. Senator Floats the Idea
“We already knew he disparaged federal student loans as ‘free money,’ but it turns out Senator Johnson’s vision for education also includes supporting a presidential candidate who ran a phony university, legalizing discrimination against students with disabilities, and replacing teachers with videos. What will will he think of next? The sad truth behind the bad headlines is the fact that Senator Johnson’s plan is to actually keep higher education financially out of reach for middle and working class kids.” said Harry Hartfield, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.
