서울시 교육감 재선을 노리는 문용린 후보가 전국교직원노동조합에 대해 강력하게 비판하고 나섰다. 또한 고승덕 후보에 대해서도 “교육에 대해 잘 모른다”고 주장했다.

문 후보는 본지와의 인터뷰를 통해 “우리 교육의 가장 큰 폐해 중 하나가 전교조 사람들이 이뤄놓은 것”이라면서 진보측 단일후보인 조희연 대표를 포함해 곽노현 전 교육감 등을 “전교조에서 주장하는 것을 실행하는 사람”이라고 말했다.

그는 진보 측 교육감과 전교조에 대해 “편향된 이념이자 교육관이다”라면서 또한 문 후보는 “전교조를 막기 위해서라도, 전교조의 정책을 서울에 뿌리내리지 않게 하기 위해서라도 서울시 교육감을 가야(재선해야)겠다”고 밝혔다.

문 후보가 전교조와 대립각을 세운 것은 이번이 처음이 아니다.

문 후보는 지난 20일, ‘전국 보수 단일후보 10인 교육정책 협약식’에서 “‘보수 단일후보들은 종북 좌파 이념을 주입하는 전교조와 편향된 좌파 세력으로부터 어린 아이들을 구해야 한다”고 발언한 바 있다.

이에 대해 전교조 측은 “공연히 허위의 사실을 적시해 전교조의 명예를 훼손했다”면서 문 후보를 서울중앙지검에 고소하고, 전교조 교사들에 대한 사과를 요구했다.

한편 문 후보는 보수 측 라이벌 고승덕 후보에 대해서도 비판의 목소리를 높였다.

문 후보는 고 후보에 대해 “고 후보의 경력은 교육감 경력에 속하지 않는다”면서 “그런 경험이 없는 사람이 어디있겠느냐”고 지적했다.

또한 교육청 내 특정학과 중심의 소수 관료집단이 중요 포지션을 독식해오고 있다는 지적에 대해 “선후배 관행은 어디에나 있다”면서 “구체적으로 뭘 잘못했는지 얘기해야지 추측 가지고 비난하면 안된다”고 말했다.

또한 “고 후보는 교육을 모른다”라면서 “전교조의 폐해에 대해서는 나만이 안다”고 말했다.

문 후보가 노골적으로 전교조를 비판함에 따라 전교조 측에서 반발이 강하게 일고 있다. 그는 지난 2012년 서울시교육감 재보궐 선거운동 때도 전교조를 “전교조 종북세력”이라고 정의하는 등 원색적 비난을 했다가 당선 후 사과한 바 있다. (코리아헤럴드 윤민식 기자)



<관련 영문 기사>

Seoul education chief promises creative learning

By Yoon Min-sik


Conservative candidate Moon says state textbook possible, bashes liberal predecessor

Incumbent Seoul education superintendent Moon Yong-rin vowed to reform the the traditional emphasis on rote memorization, which stifles creative thinking, if he is reelected as the capital’s education chief in the upcoming June 4 local elections.

“My dream is to educate the students in a way that encourages their dreams and talents, but one year and four months in office was too short to realize it,” the 66-year-old former professor said, explaining that his key policy of “happy education” centers helped students find what they want to do and pursue a career in the field.

In this effort, Moon vowed to work in tandem with the government-led “free-learning semester,” an experimental no-test semester that provides various job-related experiences for first-year middle school students. Moon vowed to expand the already existing system if he returned to office.

Moon also left the door open for state-authored history textbooks. Last year, controversy over supposedly inaccurate content of a state-authorized history textbook swept the country. It prompted debate about possibly reinstating the state textbook system that started in 1974 during the 16-year rule of Park Chung-hee and abolished in 2002.

“The primary condition for correct historical education is that we (the educators) should be able to share a common perception of history. Conservatives and liberals each writing their own viewpoints of history is basically just using education for their political purposes,” he said. “I think we can consider reinstating the textbook.”

During the course of the campaigning, Moon was severely criticized by his conservative rival Koh Seung-duk, who said Moon and his inner circle are monopolizing all the top positions and benefits at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education.

Koh accused Moon of favoring people who graduated from the same alma mater, Seoul National University, with a degree in education. He called them “kyofia” — a combination of Korean word “kyo-yuk (education)” and “mafia.”

“The people working in the education circles are experts in those fields, which means it is only natural that there are many education majors in office,” he said.

But Moon admitted that he tended to favor alumni from same school.

“What field does not have such a tendency (to favor alumni)? But the real question is: Did such a custom prompt such a hazard?” he said. “If there was anything I did wrong as ‘kyofia,’ feel free to point it out. Don’t just say ‘Oh, there are many people who graduated from the same school in the same workplace’.”

In a possible response to the criticism about the supposed favoritism, Moon proposed a policy on Tuesday that would allow some high-school graduates a chance to become school teachers. The law currently allows only college graduates who majored in education and those who studied specific education subjects to apply for the state-run teacher certification test. His new policy would allow top-ranked applicants from the World Skills Competition and National Skills Competition, an engineering event, to be hired as teachers.

Moon also emphasized the importance of safety-related education, which became a hot-button issue in the light of the tragic sinking of the ferry Sewol.

“The biggest reason behind the reoccurring accidents is because our education system fails to teach children how much safety matters. As a result we become adults before we realize the importance of safety,” he said.

Moon pledged to introduce customized safety education that starts when a child is a preschooler and ends as he or she graduates from high school.

Moon was critical toward a series of policies introduced by left-leaning former education chief Kwak No-hyun, namely the “innovative school” program that designates a select few schools to pursue new ways of learning.

He also bashed Seoul’s free lunch program, which he said was the main reason why the education office had been unable to fix the old and battered school buildings across the city.

“The (free lunch) program sucked up the education-related budget like a black hole, and almost put a full stop to investigating school facilities, which is directly linked to school safety,” he said.

Moon claimed Kwak and Cho Hi-yeon, the liberal candidate for Seoul education chief, have blindly followed policies that have been pursued by the left-leaning Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union, the largest group of teachers in the country.

“In my mind, the biggest damages in the education today have been inflicted by the KTU. They (liberals) are saying they’ll introduce the innovative schools, but they don’t even know what the schools’ strong points are,” he said, adding that he would “fight” what he claims to be KTU-led policies.

“Koh doesn’t know education, which means he doesn’t know what the KTU might do. I’m the best man for the job.”

A former professor of education at Seoul National University, Moon‘s resume includes a stint as minister of education during the Kim Dae-jung administration, from January to July 2000. In 2012, he was elected as the education chief of Seoul, succeeding Kwak No-hyun, who stepped down amid bribery allegations.

(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)