Jobs' outburst didn't sit well with the American Federation of Teachers, the nation's second-largest teachers' union, either.

"The president of the AFT, Edward J. McElroy, saw his comments, and he'd like to invite Steve Jobs to accompany him to visit a few schools, to really see what's going on in the schools," said AFT spokesman John See. "If Jobs doesn't change his mind, then at least we know he has some information."

Apple and the National Education Association, the largest teachers union in the U.S., did not return calls for comment.

During the panel discussion Friday, Jobs also lobbied for a textbook-free future. The Associated Press quoted Jobs as saying, "I think we'd have far more current material available to our students and we'd be freeing up a tremendous amount of funds that we could buy delivery vehicles with -- computers, faster Internet, things like that."

Textbooks could be replaced with a free, always-updated online information resource, somewhat like the Internet encyclopedia Wikipedia. "I think we'd get some of the best minds in the country contributing," Jobs said.