Film Review: American Education is on Alert in ‘Waiting For Superman’

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CHICAGO – “Every Child Left Behind” could be the subtitle of this stunning new documentary, “Waiting for Superman,” directed by Davis Guggenheim, the helmsman of another major doc, “An Inconvenient Truth.” The other truth in this new film is that the American system of public schooling is bent and broken in many places, risking our very future.

Rating: 4.5/5.0

The title refers to the type of effort it will take to make a change in the public schooling system. The government bureaucracy, the teacher’s unions and the dichotomy between rich and poor have conspired to create a unyieldingly flawed system of education. This is no longer about the Bell Curve or Family Values or No Child Left Behind, it is about the value we place on assuring that our fellow citizens have a decent chance to uplift themselves.

Using family point-of-view, depressing statistics and a historical perspective, Guggenheim breaks down the form of public education from its roots in the early 20th Century through its evolution in modern times as a big and bloated bureaucracy that moves like a snail and spits upon the very children it is suppose to be serving.

Shining a spotlight on the all the sectors of the system…federal government, local school boards and the teachers unions, Guggenheim winnows down the results of these factors interacting back to the expectant children from lower income families, whose only hope are the lotteries of the few decent charter public schools in otherwise wrecked systems. The situation is most acute in urban centers like New York and Los Angeles, but the breakdown all over the place is mostly due to lack of funds colliding head-on with unprepared students.

The average high schooler is entering 9th grade with math and reading scores below the level where they are suppose to be at, not to mention falling farther behind their counterparts in many developing countries. Ever wonder why there are so many immigrant doctors and engineers in this country? It all starts at the elementary school level.

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Waiting for Superman”

Director Davis Guggenheim Sets Up a Shot in ‘Waiting for Superman’ Photo Credit: © Paramount Pictures

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Waiting for Superman”