Waiting For Superman

Waiting For Superman   directed by: Davis Guggenheim

This is a documentary about our nation's public schools.   I interned in a public school years ago in college; the one thing that was obvious to me then was that Bush's 'No Child Left Behind' bill was a horrific piece of legislature. Waiting For Superman highlights all of the less obvious reasons that the public school system is failing, how we can fix them, and why we won't.

What I learned:

1. Tenure in public schools is not good.  Once a public school teacher is tenured they are nearly untouchable despite level of engagement, effectiveness, or attitude.  Even teachers with violations and complaints go and spend (Paid) time waiting to meet with a review board.  There are hundreds of teachers not working, getting paid while waiting for their verdicts, sometimes for months at a time.
2. At one time it was actually publicly believed that low income kids could not learn at the capacity of middle to high income. This has been largely proven false with a variance of testing methods done in and across bad neighborhoods and "fail" schools. There are better and more effective teaching methods that are not adopted into the public school system although the results are undeniably in  favor of education.
3. Admission to magnet, charter, and other alternative schools  are highly competitive and are done through lotteries.  A random selection is the only fair way to choose students with so few seats available.  Of course not everyone can afford private school so chances of giving your child a better opportunity by attending one of these alt schools is random and out of your hands.   What's the hard working parent to do? 

Waiting for Superman follows several children and their families as they try to get into alt schools, and struggle to make ends meet.  Since the public as a whole is doing little to fix this broken system, fortunately there are a few pilgrims like Michelle Rhee and Geoffrey Canada to lead the way.

Michelle Rhee is the former Chancellor of DC public schools, and a past educator herself.  She stated that she did not intend to serve another term so was not looking for popularity to hold the position. She only wanted to come in and make the hard decisions that people have been afraid to make....and she did.

Geoffrey Canada, is the CEO of Children's Zone in Harlem and a well respected education activist. He assists in commentating this documentary helping us to understand the detriment of many of the policies in place.   Canada has made his rounds on the talk show circuit and gained national public respect.

Documentaries are intense.    See the website to learn more and what you can do to help.
http://www.waitingforsuperman.com/action/

President Obama with the kids from Waiting For Superman.