What public schools should learn from Steve Jobs

Every child should have the opportunities that Jobs had to become the person that he became. He says, "I learned more from [Teddy] than any other teacher, and if it hadn't been for her I'm sure I would have gone to jail."

He was a kid who set off an explosive underneath his teacher's chair in grade school. Before he graduated to that, he set off havoc by making "bring your pet to school day" posters and convinced other kids to give him their bike lock combinations so he could switch all the locks.

Fortunately Jobs attended schools that accommodated his childish behavior and rebellion rather than criminalizing it.

In typical public schools today, students are charged as delinquents for behaving in their childish manner. Many end up in jail. Steve Jobs teacher Teddy figured out how to engage him in the learning process. Admittedly, she"bribed" him with lollipops and occasionally even cash, but after a few incentives. According to Jobs, "I just wanted to learn and to please her."

For too many students, today's schools resemble prisons.

Every school must develop the capability to engage a child to his full potential and do what it takes to motivate him.