"Waiting for Superman"

Having never seen "An Inconvenient Truth" I didn't really have any desire to see David Guggenheim's latest emotional documentary, "Waiting for Superman."  However, considering my present career path, the topic of the movie did spark my interest.  I have not had a chance to see this movie yet, but have done some checking into its premise and its ideas for solutions for the educational system.

The film looks into the lives students having to deal with the lottery system, in which the school they will attend is determined by a simple lottery drawing.  Those "lucky" chosen students will get a chance to attend a top-performance charter school.  Those who aren't chosen will attend their local school, even if it is below-standard. According to a commentary on the film, Orlando Sentinel writer Mike Thomas says that the "villains" in the film are "unwieldy bureaucracies and teachers unions, which bargain for contracts that stifle excellence and protect incompetence.  The priority is job protection, not education."

Having grown up in an middle/upper-middle class small city, I have no experience knowing what it's like growing up in an inner city school system.  The obstacles and daily-life stresses that those students face are probably more than I can understand.  Without actually being there to go through that experience with other students, it's hard for me to say how those "unlucky" students handle life.  But I have to wonder, as soon as they find out they aren't chosen to go to a charter school, are these students then filled with a loss of hope that they have any chance at success?  Do they lose determination, assuming higher education is out of the question?  It seems that these lotteries leave the majority of students with a sense of loss before they've even begun.  And as far as the film's "villains,"  I hesitate to pass judgement without knowing more, but I would really have to do more research into the real root of the problem.  But creating a film to "point the finger" at some by rousing of the emotions of viewers doesn't seem to be a "fair" tactic.  Hype is easy, taking time to study the facts and make informed decisions is much harder.

I am interested in checking out "Waiting for Superman," and would encourage others to as well because I do believe America's education system could use some serious attention, but I would advise viewers to simply "take it with a grain of Kryptonite."

Link to Orlando Sentinel Mike Thomas Article