Community | October 01, 2010 | 10 comments

"Waiting for Superman": Critics Say Much-Hyped Education Documentary Unfairly Targets Teachers Unions and Promotes Charter Schools

source: http://www.commondreams.org/video/2010/10/01-2

Waiting for Superman, a new documentary by filmmaker Davis Guggenheim, has caused a stir in the education world for its sweeping endorsement of the charter school movement and attack on teachers unions. President Obama has endorsed the film, describing it as "heartbreaking" and "powerful," but some teachers have called for a boycott of the film for its portrayal of teachers and the teachers union. We speak to Rick Ayers, founder of the Communication Arts and Sciences program at Berkeley High School and adjunct professor in teacher education at the University of San Francisco.

Video at either link.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/10/1/waiting_for_superman_critics_say_much
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10 comments // "Waiting for Superman": Critics Say Much-Hyped Education Documentary Unfairly Targets Teachers Unions and Promotes Charter Schools

  • Incredulous
    • +2
      Incredulous  

    • Charter schools are nothing more than a clever disguise to more firmly impoverish the powerless...shame on Obama for endorsing...starting to have some serious doubts about his policies.

    • 1 year ago
  • Paratus
    • 0
      Paratus  

    • The problem is not with many of the individual teacher but the institutional mindset of the unions and the federal government.

    • 1 year ago
  • treewolf39
    • +1
      treewolf39  
    • Paratus:

      What is it exactly that makes the union such a problem? People deserve to be secure in their chosen profession. That is a corner stone of a civil society. Teachers need to be able to purchase a house, car, and have children without the threat of their job being constantly held over their heads. There are systems in place to get rid of burnt out teachers, but that doesn't mean throwing them under the bus after 20 years of work.

      As for the Feds, No child left behind was a drastic failure, and teachers knew it. Most people over 40 got a reasonably good public education. Of course that varies from state to state with matching funding and all.

      I believe we must look at other successful countries education programs instead of trying to band-aid the American system just to keep it American. Summer vacation, let it go. Also, not every child needs to go to collage or wants to. Vocational training should be offered. Politicians should not be allowed to mess with education in any way sense they are owned by their corporate overlords.

    • 1 year ago
  • freecrack
    • +2
      freecrack  

    • this is so sad, as no real means by wich true evaluation of teachers exists yet.but in the tradition of salem witch trials here we go.

    • 1 year ago
  • treewolf39
  • freecrack
    • +2
      freecrack  
    • treewolf39:

      my moms a teacher, and i heard all about how much she suffered with her kids, and worked her ass off to educate them, despite thier resistance.i mean ya cant look down on a teacher and not acknowledge one of her students was charles manson.kids like that tend to drag the class down.not a reflection of the teacher come test time, but a mix of infinite variables.
      call a teacher underpreforming when they applied for a gym coach job and got stuck teaching math.
      they blame the teachers when kids cant pass current exams, but only provide 25 yr old books lined with errors and missing pages.
      it just goes on and on.

    • 1 year ago
  • treewolf39
    • +1
      treewolf39  
    • freecrack:

      I'm with ya. Over-sized classes and they are no longer allowed real discipline because the schools get federal funding for kids who are present in class. Also often the poorest districts are given the under-performing teachers. So many problems, did I mention Texas approved science?

    • 1 year ago
  • freecrack
  • JanforGore
  • Progresshiv
    • +3
      Progresshiv  

    • There are thousands of filmmakers, writers, politicians, and government bureaucrats who make a good living demonizing teachers, but not one of them ever spent 15 minutes in a classroom with their ill-mannered, slack-jawed, overweight, mouth-breathing offspring. I know, "mouth-breathing" is redundant, and I know that because I'm a teacher. Most of the folks who read this will have to look up "redundant" in the dictionary. If you don't know what a dictionary is, you probably support charter schools and slander teachers at every opportunity.

    • 1 year ago
treewolf39
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