Waiting for Superman

Yesterday I had the opportunity to watch Waiting for Superman. It is a compelling movie in that it; uncovers some startling poor reading statistics nationwide, takes dead aim at the teacher unions in the country, and bemoans children not having the quality of education they need and deserve.

Much hype and a fair amount of criticism have accompanied the film and I must say that I can understand why teachers in this country are pretty upset. There is a great deal of blame laid on public schools though I thought the film made it clear that there are plenty of great teachers in both the good and not-so-good public schools. At least the film made it clear that it takes great teachers, wherever they are, do have a profound impact upon young people.

The thrust of the film was this; public schools, especially the inner cities ones, right now, are not getting the job done. And because of this situation school reform has to take place right now. The reasons for the decline of public school education are many according to Guggenheim; a lack of accountability, tenure laws, too many governmental agency rules, poor teachers, outdated organizational structures, and teacher unions...to name a few.

Guggenheim identified Geoffrey Canada's schools in Harlem and the Kipp schools (99 of them nationwide at the time of the film) as having the right idea when it comes to improving the quality of education. Among the practices that provided positive results, aside from eliminating some of the roadblocks to reform mentioned in the previous paragraphs, were a longer school year and a longer school day.

While there are parts of the film that I found discomforting I was not, as a retired teacher, offended. Reforms are needed and I will get to some of those tomorrow.

My chief concern is this...if a school is open right now and it is having some difficulties, the current need is not for immediately shutting its doors and firing the entire staff. Struggling schools will not close tomorrow. That is a simple truth. What many of these schools need is some immediate practical help.

Oh, by the way, what happens to the three students, out of the five in the movie, who don't get into a Kipp School, a charter, or one of Canada's schools? Well, they head back to the so called 'lousy' school. It is that school, and its students, who need our assistance.

Dick