Now that would be a great school principal . . .

A Speech Every American High School Principal Should Give.

By Dennis Prager.

To the students and faculty of our high school:

I am your new principal, and honored to be so. There is no greater calling than to teach young people.

I would like to apprise you of some important changes coming to our school.

I am making these changes because I am convinced that most of the ideas that
have dominated public education in America have worked against you, against
your teachers and against our country.

First, this school will no longer honor race or ethnicity. I could not

care less if your racial makeup is black, brown, red, yellow or white. I
could not care less if your origins are African, Latin American, Asian or
European, or if your ancestors arrived here on the Mayflower or on slave
ships. The only identity I care about, the only one this school will
recognize, is your individual identity -- your character, your scholarship,
your humanity. And the only national identity this school will care about
is American.

This is an American public school, and American public schools were created

to make better Americans. If you wish to affirm an ethnic, racial or
religious identity through school, you will have to go elsewhere. We
will end all ethnicity, race and non-American nationality-based celebrations.
They undermine the motto of America, one of its three central values -- e
pluribus Unum, "from many, one." And this school will be guided by America's
values. This includes all after-school clubs. I will not authorize clubs
that divide students based on any identities. This includes race, language,
religion, sexual orientation or whatever else may become in vogue is a
society divided by political correctness.

Your clubs will be based on interests and passions, not blood, ethnic,

racial or other physically defined ties. Those clubs just cultivate
narcissism -- an unhealthy preoccupation with the self -- while the purpose
of education is to get you to think beyond yourself. So we will have clubs
that transport you to the wonders and glories of art,
music, astronomy, languages you do not already speak, carpentry and more. If the only
extracurricular activities you can imagine being interested in are those
based on ethnic, racial or sexual identity, that means that little outside
of yourself really interests you.

Second, I am uninterested in whether English is your native language. My

only interest in terms of language is that you leave this school speaking
and writing English as fluently as possible. The English language has united
America 's citizens for over 200 years, and it will unite us at this school.
It is one of the indispensable reasons this country of immigrants has
always come to be one country. And if you leave this school without
excellent English language skills, I would be remiss in my duty to ensure
that you will be prepared to successfully compete in the American
job market. We will learn other languages here -- it is deplorable that most
Americans only speak English --but if you want classes taught in your
native language rather than in English, this is not your school.

Third, because I regard learning as a sacred endeavor, everything in this

school will reflect learning's elevated status. This means, among other
things, that you and your teachers will dress accordingly. Many people in
our society dress more formally for Hollywood events than for church or
school. These people have their priorities backward. Therefore, there will
be a formal dress code at this school.

Fourth, no obscene language will be tolerated anywhere on this school's

property -- whether in class, in the hallways or at athletic events. If you
can't speak without using the f-word, you can't speak. By obscene language
I mean the words banned by the Federal Communications Commission, plus
epithets such as "Nigger," even when used by one black student to address
another black, or "bitch," even when addressed by a girl to a girlfriend.
It is my intent that by the time you leave this school, you will be among
the few your age to instinctively distinguish between the elevated and the
degraded, the holy and the obscene.

Fifth, we will end all self-esteem programs. In this school, self-esteem

will be attained in only one way -- the way people attained it until
decided otherwise a generation ago -- by earning it. One immediate
consequence is that there will be one valedictorian, not eight.

Sixth, and last, I am reorienting the school toward academics and away from

politics and propaganda. No more time will be devoted to scaring you about
smoking and caffeine, or terrifying you about sexual harassment or global
warming. No more semesters will be devoted to condom wearing and teaching
you to regard sexual relations as only or primarily a health issue... There
will be no more attempts to convince you that you are a victim because you
are not white, or not male, or not heterosexual or not Christian. We will have failed if any one of you graduates this school and does not consider him or herself inordinately fortunate -- to be alive and to be an American.

Now, please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of our country. As many of you do not know the words, your teachers will hand them out.