'Waiting for Superman'

'Waiting for Superman' (PG) (3 1/2 stars)

Writers: Billy Kimball and Davis Guggenheim
Director: Davis Guggemheim

I am not a big political person and I get all my information and enjoyment of it only from Bill Maher and his outstanding talk show on HBO. I usually talk back to the screen on issues and that is all. The one topic I do care about and do think is the most important issue of the presidency is education. The fascinating, powerful and sobering documentary "Waiting for Superman" is an important movie and one of the best documentaries I have ever seen. Davis Guggenheim who gave us, in my opinion, the over rated "An Inconvenient Truth" and Billy Kimball have presented facts and and human stories brilliantly. Guggenheim always does a great job at laying it all on the line and making us rethink the issue he is presenting. I do believe teachers are undervalued and underpaid but like in any other industry there are some bad apples that ruin it for the good ones.

What this film presents is the many teachers that sit and read a newspaper and let the kids play games or goof around. It also explains the ideal of tenure and I was shocked at what tenure gives the teachers and how easy it is to earn. Seeing these images in the movie really upset me and startled me. Don't we always assume that some kids don't want to learn? The film also presents sobering facts on the incompetence of the heads of education where problems are ignored. The movie gives us scary details also on the "drop out academies" and how some good students aren't being taught competently. They are sent to schools with bad teachers and where students are not being encouraged to learn or are just being ignored.

The movie then follows many bright kids and their families who care about the education system even when it has failed them. We are introduced to Anthony, Francisco, Bianca, Daisy and Emily. They are bright young kids who care about school and have dreams of making something out of themselves. Each kid is part of a lottery that is conducted with school children in this country. To get into a public charter school kids are drawn from a random lottery to attend these schools. These are broken family homes that struggle financially and this is a chance to get a great education. The sad and powerful thing is the kids who do not win the lottery get their dreams shattered. There are some powerful and sad scenes of the kids who do not make it breaking down in tears. I was happy for the kids who were chosen but how do you tell a kid who wasn't chosen why they can't get a chance to make their dreams come true. I was very touched by the story of Anthony whose father had died of a drug overdose. He is raised by his grandmother and Anthony is interviewed and asked why he thinks a good education is important. He tells us that he wants to better himself and make it so that his kids don't suffer. That is pretty mature thoughts from a young kid and we feel for kids like him who are ignored because of the failing education system.

Washington, D.C. schools superintendent tells us something profound in her statement that "Public schools fail when children's education becomes about adults. Why don't adults take more care and thought into fixing the system for the betterment of the kids and the future? We are talking about our future leaders, doctors, citizens who are going to shape this world in the future. What "Waiting for Superman" does so well is to put a face on the students who want to learn and better themselves. It also tells the adults to stop screwing around and fix the problem before we lose our children.