Waiting for Superman
We have been watching documentaries from last year. Primarily, we have been concentrating on films that were nominated for the Academy Awards. But we decided to add "Waiting for Superman" to the list for a couple of reasons. 1) It was the most watched documentary last year, yet was not included in the nomination list? 2) I heard an interview with the head of the national teachers union. She just trashed the movie. She thought it was complete junk, no one should ever watch it, it got all the facts wrong, the problem with our education system is not teachers, but management. Both of these statements got me interested and I decided to watch the movie.
We both really enjoyed the movie. It begins by showing how bad the American education system is. Kids are just not being educated. It is true, that it is worse in poor areas, but it is pretty bad even in the wealthy areas. Then the movie isolated some of the problems in the educational system. Teachers and Unions took a big hit. A Stanford professor argued that if we could replace the bottom 5% of teachers with just average teachers, then we could be on a par with the best educational systems.
The movie showed several examples of teacher's unions blocking the efforts to improve the quality of teaching. Next the film showed several people working to improve the educational system. Primarily it focused on charter schools. Geoffrey Canda's Harlem Success Academy was used as an example of a school making a difference. In the worst area of New York City, Canada has created a school that graduates 96% of its students and all 96% go on to college.
One of the key findings is that wealth level is not necessarily a determinant of good education. The Harlem Success Academy selects its students randomly through a lottery from the poorest area of New York, yet it delivers a higher level of education than any of the wealthier areas. The location (Harlem) insures that wealth is not a factor, the lottery assures that academic ability is not a factor. The school gets random students, not just the brightest students. In fact, the students not selected in the lottery return to their public schools.
The film also tries to assert that charter schools with highly qualified teachers are the answer. I am not sold on this argument. The film contrasts a few highly successful charter schools with public schools in general. I have read that many charter schools do not perform much better than the average public school. Charter schools may be the answer, I am just not convinced by the movie. I am convinced that a few schools have found the answer, the movie did not prove to me what the answer is. I don't think it is as simple as charter schools with highly qualified teachers.
I have mixed feelings about the role of unions in the problem. The movie showed several examples where unions clearly blocked efforts to improve the level of educational quality. Tenure is given to any teacher who lasts 2 years. And it is very difficult to remove a teacher after they have achieved tenure. Yet, I don't think it is as simple as weakening the unions. I suspect that we could weaken the union and remove tenure and the education system would still be a mess. I think we need the unions and management to work together to overhaul the system. It won't be easy, both groups have a hard time trusting the other.
I found it amusing that every President in the last 30 years has declared himself "the Education President". Each were going to fix the problems in our educational system. This is a hard problem!
We both really enjoyed the movie. It begins by showing how bad the American education system is. Kids are just not being educated. It is true, that it is worse in poor areas, but it is pretty bad even in the wealthy areas. Then the movie isolated some of the problems in the educational system. Teachers and Unions took a big hit. A Stanford professor argued that if we could replace the bottom 5% of teachers with just average teachers, then we could be on a par with the best educational systems.
The movie showed several examples of teacher's unions blocking the efforts to improve the quality of teaching. Next the film showed several people working to improve the educational system. Primarily it focused on charter schools. Geoffrey Canda's Harlem Success Academy was used as an example of a school making a difference. In the worst area of New York City, Canada has created a school that graduates 96% of its students and all 96% go on to college.
One of the key findings is that wealth level is not necessarily a determinant of good education. The Harlem Success Academy selects its students randomly through a lottery from the poorest area of New York, yet it delivers a higher level of education than any of the wealthier areas. The location (Harlem) insures that wealth is not a factor, the lottery assures that academic ability is not a factor. The school gets random students, not just the brightest students. In fact, the students not selected in the lottery return to their public schools.
The film also tries to assert that charter schools with highly qualified teachers are the answer. I am not sold on this argument. The film contrasts a few highly successful charter schools with public schools in general. I have read that many charter schools do not perform much better than the average public school. Charter schools may be the answer, I am just not convinced by the movie. I am convinced that a few schools have found the answer, the movie did not prove to me what the answer is. I don't think it is as simple as charter schools with highly qualified teachers.
I have mixed feelings about the role of unions in the problem. The movie showed several examples where unions clearly blocked efforts to improve the level of educational quality. Tenure is given to any teacher who lasts 2 years. And it is very difficult to remove a teacher after they have achieved tenure. Yet, I don't think it is as simple as weakening the unions. I suspect that we could weaken the union and remove tenure and the education system would still be a mess. I think we need the unions and management to work together to overhaul the system. It won't be easy, both groups have a hard time trusting the other.
I found it amusing that every President in the last 30 years has declared himself "the Education President". Each were going to fix the problems in our educational system. This is a hard problem!
posted by Steve @ 3:23 PM
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