Waiting for Superman

Answer 1

It’s difficult to turn on a TV or pickup a magazine without reading about a new documentary called “Waiting for Superman”. The trailer is available at http://www.waitingforsuperman.com/.

I first heard about the show while watching an episode of Oprah. She spent the hour talking about the education system in the United States while interviewing the director, Davis Guggenheim, and Bill Gates. She showed a scene from the film where a mother in Brooklyn, NY pays $500 a month to send her daughter to a private elementary where she attends 2nd grade.

The mother shareshow poor her education was. She details how many of her teachers gave up and allowed the students to roam the halls. She decided that her daughter would not go through that same chaos, and she worked hard to earn the tuition to send her daughter to a better school. The private school is located across the street from her apartment. We see this darling little girl attend class. She’s happy and thriving in this environment. We see how proud her mom is.

And then we witness sheer heartbreak.

Although this little girl attended all her classes leading up to the last week of school, she was not allowed to participate in graduation ceremonies because mom is behind on tuition. It’s difficult to watch as we see this 2nd grader look out her window and down on her fellow students as they enter the school on this important day. Her facial expression says it all. Even Bill Gates fought back tears.

Although it’s difficult to watch, it’s something that takes place all over the United States on a daily basis. Getting into a good school can hinge on having your number drawn at a lottery for admittance to a well-run Charter School. The lucky students flourish under the direction of skilled and motivated teachers while those whose numbers never made it out of the spinning ball are left in the hands of dilapidatedpublic schools with poor teachers.

We are lucky enough to live in an area with good schools. My oldest daughter was accepted into an honors program for fourth and fifth graders. The difference in teachers, resources and parental involvement is stunning compared to the school our first and second grader attend.

Bill Gates said there are no quick fixes to the problem. He suggested we pattern schools after those Charter programs that are preparing nearly 100% of their students for college. Basically, look around and see what’s working and use that as a template for other schools.

We are just starting the journey with our young children. We’ve had our share of excellent and mediocre teachers. But we have faith the system will improve. Yet it’s clear we have a long way to go.

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