Watch: Matt Damon Schools Reporter While Defending Teachers

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Matt Damon showed his love for teachers — and after this confrontation, we’re sure teachers are loving Matt Damon right back.

The actor attended the Save Our Schools march in Washington, D.C. with his mother, Nancy, who happens to be a schoolteacher. After giving the keynote address, Damon was cornered by a journalist from Reason.tv who challenged his defense of teachers.

She tried to make a point that Damon, as an actor, didn’t have job security, and therefore he had an “incentive to work hard and be a better actor” — something that teachers would fail to do, once they earned tenure (and lost incentive).

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Damon’s disbelief is palpable as he gives his response:

“You think job insecurity is what makes me work hard? I want to be an actor. That’s the thing. See, you take this MBA-style thinking right — it’s the problem with policy right now — it’s this intrinsically paternalistic view of problems that are much more complex than that. It’s like saying a teacher is going to get lazy when they make tenure. A teacher wants to teach. I mean, why else would you take a sh—- salary and really long hours and do that job, unless you really love to do it?”

Preach!

The best part of the video, however, comes when the Reason.tv cameraman jumps in to make the ridiculous claim that “10% of teachers are bad” and Damon responds with a quick, “Well, OK, maybe you’re a sh—- cameraman, I don’t know.”

Megan Gibson is a reporter at TIME. Find her on Twitter at @MeganJGibson. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.

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