Terry,
Oprah certainly levels some valid charges against the public schools.
But I found the Newsweek article a bit disconcerting; it suggests that this entire project might have more to do with Oprah exorcising her childhood demons than with providing a sound education for disadvantaged young women.
[T]he South African government had planned to build the school with her, but it pulled out amid reported criticism that the academy was too elitist and lavish for such a poor country. Oprah doesn’t care. “These girls deserve to be surrounded by beauty, and beauty does inspire,” she says, sitting on the couch of her hotel suite overlooking the deep-blue Indian Ocean. “I wanted this to be a place of honor for them because these girls have never been treated with kindness. They’ve never been told they are pretty or have wonderful dimples. I wanted to hear those things as a child.”
Later, Oprah’s friend Gayle King offers more insight:
King has her own theory as to why her friend has become obsessed with the school. “When I watched Oprah with those girls,” she says, “I kept thinking she was meant to be a mother, and it would happen one way or another.” Indeed, Oprah constantly refers to her students as “my girls,” and she really means it.
At least the venture focuses on private investment. If it succeeds, great. If not, no money obtained by government coercion will have been wasted.
