Rupert Murdoch: Schools Can Learn From Idol Show has tougher standards, he says By John Johnson Posted Oct 8, 2010 12:24 PM CDT Copied From left to right, Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez, Randy Jackson, and Ryan Seacrest at the 'American Idol' Season Ten judge announcement in Inglewood, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2010. (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg) Place Rupert Murdoch squarely in the Waiting for Superman camp, the new documentary about how lousy the US school system is. The News Corp. chief takes to the pages of his own Wall Street Journal today to complain that teachers unions and their political cronies are being richly rewarded while students—and, consequently, America—suffers. A big part of the problem is that the current system is more concerned about protecting bad teachers than rewarding good ones, he writes. "We have chancellors, superintendents and principals who can't hire and fire based on performance," Murdoch complains, which leads to his takeaway quote: "We have tougher standards on American Idol. And so long as we refuse to measure success by what our children are learning, we're going to have higher performance standards for pop stars than for public schools." Read These Next Trumps ends trade talks with Canada. Gavin Newsom has filed a massive lawsuit against Fox News. New York Times ranks the best movies of the 21st century. Supreme Court is a yes on age checks for porn sites. Report an error