Good edukasion

People want the best for their kids. They want to give them the best home, the best food, the best toys and, of course, the best schools. Unfortunately, the school part may be a little easier said than done.

It is always so immensely pleasant to come across a documentary that succeeds as well as “Waiting for Superman” does. It is refreshing to know that the likes of Michael Moore haven’t completely infected the genre and ruined the craft. But I digress.

“Waiting for Superman” is a fascinating documentary that plainly and bluntly tells the story of American education—all its triumphs, and especially all its failings, such as the large number of students who drop out of our educational system.

The facts are plain and simple, and this film is full of them. “Waiting for Superman” provides an excellent foundation on which to allow the facts to speak for themselves. Viewers can take what they wish from this documentary and draw their own conclusions.

The film does steer you towards a few notions—however, not in a terribly unethical way. Any conclusions that appear on screen generally come from those with the experience to back it up. Teachers, administrators and others fighting in the educational trenches all lend their voices to paint a clearer picture of our American education.

These voices tell of students merely pushed through a system, whether they deserve it or not, and schools whose top priorities and concerns are juggling the various requirements placed upon them by every bureaucracy from their city on up to the federal government.

Interesting thoughts emerge, such as the fact that our nation’s prisoners are comprised of a large number of dropouts. The money that goes to paying for those prisoners is actually more expensive for the taxpayers than sending those prisoners to private school to ensure they at least get a high school education. Is crime causing environments that result in failing education, or is our quality of education contributing to crime?

“Waiting for Superman” certainly will have a number of groups searching for kryptonite to silence it. It’s no secret that teachers’ unions take quite a few punches in the film. One significant blow is the fact that it is damn near impossible to fire a teacher—even if they dunk a student’s head in a toilet or are seriously suspected of committing sexual assault.

Then, of course, there are the politics involved. Politicians and political parties are taking in large donations, creating more regulations and passing the buck as any good politician knows how to do.

As you can imagine, this all adds up to one big tangled mess, and caught helplessly in this confusing knot are the students.

Unlike many documentaries that present an issue and then leave you, left to dwell in all the concerns presented, “Waiting for Superman” does something unique; it offers some solutions—possible solutions at least. The film is able to sift through the many schools and educators attempting to fill the gaps in knowledge and solve our nation’s educational dilemma, and extract those who are demonstrating success. Through these triumphs in education is a formula that can aid in teaching the adults how to make schools work.