What if the success or failure of your child rested on the results of a lottery? This is the question that Waiting for Superman asks you to consider as it follows the lives of several children from poor districts who hope to gain a spot in high-achieving charter schools. Of course, a child’s fate is not definitively determined by the school which he or she attends. However, as the Sundance Audience Award winner for Best Documentary points out, some schools are “drop-out factories,” while other schools consistently churn out students who attend and graduate from college. Clearly, a school can have a very real impact on the course of a child’s life. Director Davis Guggenheim makes a poignant point when he describes driving past several nearby public schools every day to drop off his children at a private school.
I went to see Waiting for Superman a few days ago. It was playing in the Michigan Theater, a beautiful and elaborately decorated building—think mirrors and gold filigree—along East Liberty Street. I could easily imagine myself back in the 1950s (or even earlier). An organ was piping soothing music through the air, and the seats around me were nearly empty. Documentaries don’t tend to be blockbusters. In fact, I don’t usually watch documentaries, but I had heard so many good things about this one that I thought I’d make an exception. I wasn’t disappointed.
Waiting for Superman takes a hard look at the educational system in America, turning a critical eye at the practice of tenure and the policies of teacher’s unions. On the other hand, the documentary showcases the efforts of Michelle Rhee, former chancellor of the Washington D.C. public schools, whose unpopular actions ultimately resulted in improved test scores. (Michelle Rhee resigned just last month, but you can visit her website to keep updated on what she’s up to.) The documentary also showcases successful charter schools such as Harlem Success Academy. Charter schools, it notes, are free of the regulations that constrain public schools, which are governed not only by national and state laws, but also by multiple layers of local control.
I was surprised that the documentary didn’t mention Teach For America (TFA) at all, especially since it features Michelle Rhee, who is a former Teach For America corps member, and the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) schools, which were founded by two TFA alumni. Perhaps it didn’t want to open up a whole other can of worms—TFA, which is committed to closing the achievement gap, has received both extensive praise and extensive criticism.
Critics of Waiting for Superman complain that it doesn’t fully address all the issues related to educational inequity, glossing over problems such as poor nutrition and inadequate health care—problems that plague impoverished communities and affect the performance of their students. Critics also complain that the documentary makes a silver bullet out of charter schools, even though, as the film itself acknowledges, only one in five charter schools is highly successful.
So how thoroughly does this film investigate the problems of the educational system? It certainly doesn’t cover all the problems contributing to the US’s failing educational system (which is perhaps an impossible task anyhow), but it certainly points to several important ones, such as the lack of mechanisms for removing bad teachers. More importantly, in my opinion, it’s a film that has sparked conversation and debate about education reform, drawing attention in a touching and emotionally powerful way to one of the major social issues in America today.
For the trailer, click here.
