Oprah’s apology

One of our contributor’s favorite newspapers, The Independent, featured a recent story on abuse and neglect at Oprah’s $40 million South African school.

$40 million on one school gets you a yoga studio, gym, protective? fencing, lavish classroom decor and fancy uniforms…and a whole lot of criticism.

I’ll give to to Oprah for doing something; I’m not hating on her for trying to be active. But, as in earlier discussions about Teach for America, I’m not sure if that kind of doing is actually doing any good.

$40 million sure could buy more (more schools, more books, more uniforms, more teachers). But it was spent on someone’s dream (read: a self-reflexive, Western consumer’s notion of an educational wonderland).