English comprehension and literacy, Mathematics, History and basic Science? That all they really need?
Sorry, I disagree. What about art, literature, music, cooking/home ec., a sense of civic duty, ability to function in a kind manner within larger society, and sense of community? Are these things not important? How about the most important thing to instill into young students - a desire to learn!
We are too obsessed at churning out pre-pre-college students, obsessed with math and science. What skills benefit a person more - calculus or financial literacy? English rhetoric or the ability to compose posts and email sensibly? Complete basic scientific literacy or the ability to conduct research along with the desire to learn more on a topic before making a judgment?
I applaud the schools for trying to modernize their program and attempting to make the skills they teach align with the real world!
Oh, and a side note, there is one really major reason why language skills are degrading - spellcheckers! Often times you will see the errors in posts that either have to do with using the wrong word (there or they're) or gramatical structure. When no spell checker is present, the errors often rise significantly.