Waiting for Superman

Made a date with Dina some time ago to watch "Waiting for Superman", a documentary about the public education system in the United States when I saw the advertisement on Filmhouse's website. Both of us have been engaging in some interesting exchanges about the education system in our countries and it has been a joy.

Little did we know that this documentary is so subtly powerful in its message that it left the both of us in tears. Neither of us are facing a failing public education system back home but as educators, the journey that we went on in that 1.5 hour was a powerful reminder on what public education is all about. When the education system fails to provide hope for the youths who had once hoped of getting out of the vicious poverty cycle, and when some schools fail to help more than 2/3 of their students graduate from middle school and acquire a basic certificate, and when the unions didn't even dare to allow for a vote so that there's a possible way to get rid of the rotten eggs in the teaching force, it definitely paints a bleak picture. In the end, all the parents can do is continue to pray for a lottery strike to get their children into one of the better public charter schools. (of course, as documented in the film, only 1 in 5 of the public charter schools are doing well too)     



Of course, we only saw what was in the documentary. Nonetheless, it seems to suggest a strong take away, ie. Sometimes, too much democracy and too much union rights may not be in the best interest for overhauling changes after all.

PS: Just when things seem to just get brighter for D.C (the worst performing state), the chancellor, who was interviewed in the documentary, resigned. Politics!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqW0JISv-vc