An opinion piece by Rupert Murdoch
If Schools Were Like 'American Idol' ...
By Rupert Murdoch
Published October 08, 2010
| The Wall Street Journal
Over the past few years, I have often complained about a hidebound culture that prevents many newspapers from responding to the challenges of new technology. There is, however, another hidebound American institution that is also finding it difficult to respond to new challenges: our big-city schools.
Today, for example, the United States is home to more than 2,000 dysfunctional high schools. They represent less than 15% of American high schools yet account for about half of our dropouts. When you break this down, you find that these institutions produce 81% of all Native American dropouts, 73% of all African-American dropouts, and 66% of all Hispanic dropouts.
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At our grade schools, two-thirds of all eighth-graders score below proficient in math and reading. The average African-American or Latino 9-year-old is three grades behind in these subjects. Behind the grim statistics is the real story: lost opportunities, crushed dreams, and shattered lives. In plain English, we trap the children who need an education most in failure factories.
The NEA, in my opinion, has been responsible primarily, for the dumbing down of America, while amassing the power. Public Schools have become the babysitter responsible for raising the children of an America that has become a two wage earner family, when there were two members of the family living in the home. Life has become so totally different than when I was growing up, and it seemed that every kid's mom was a stay at home mom. Now the teacher has the responsibility but no longer the authority that parents have. You may state that I am yearning for the good old days, but in defense, we turned out okay. But today there is no disciplining, there are no consequences for actions. Since it is not taught in schools, in most cases, it is not taught at all, and as a result we are seeing a moral decay. Our value system is gone. In many ways I believe that Bill Clinton was a huge catalyst for this decay. It was excused by the left, because he was just like them, imperfect. It was excused by him with, "It's all according to what the meaning of is, is." There were no consequences for lying to the American Public with," I did not have sex with that woman."
In this opinion piece Murdoch points out the problem with the education system.
