Looking to make his last stand in South Carolina by appealing to the racist, union-hating Republican mob who attended last night’s Fox News/Wall Street Journal debate, Newt Gingrich lashed out at NYC public school janitors.
Citing erroneous salary figures, like he did in December, the former House speaker said because of unions, those versed in the custodial arts make an “absurd amount of money.” He also reiterated his education plan for students, black ones in particular:
“You could take one janitor and hire 30 some kids to work in the school for the price of one janitor, and those 30 kids would be a lot less likely to drop out. They would actually have money in their pocket. They’d learn to show up for work.”
I believe he was quoting Martin Luther King Jr.’s lesser known, “I Have A Nightmare” speech.
Hah! As a Janitor, Building Manager, Safety Specialist at a local charter school, who is often called upon to have students help with the work…. This is absurd. When exactly would these students be cleaning the building? Starting at 9pm, like most cleaning services do? Would they be pulled from class time and study time to do the work? What about interfering with after school activities? What about safety concerns during cleaning? What about attention to detail?
As an institution, we tried to hire students to do various jobs over the summer. After that draining experience, we unanimously decided to never do that again.
Dear Newt…there is a real world out there. You should try to live in it once in awhile.