Waiting for "Superman"

great documentry

This was a great documentry.It exposed the problems we are facing in our education system today. It is also a warning to be aware of the school you choose for your child. The strongest message i got from this film is the parent is the strongest advocate for the child

8 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

Incredible Documentary

I saw this documentary in an education class last week and it was something that all of us really needed to see. It highlights the issues with the public school systems in America, and while it frightens me to see what I am going to face as a teacher, it also really encouraged me to do more for my future students. It encouraged me to really educate myself on teacher unions. It also shows you that the power that the parents have when it comes to their child's education.

I highly recommend this film for parents & anyone involved in education. It is well done and very informative!

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

THEORY AT ITS BEST BUT NOT REALISM

I wonder how many of these thoughts could be put into practice as we educate students today in America. If we changed our culture and our philosophy of education completely and funded education 100% POSSIBLY a few of these ideas might work. Today it is sad how we fund education and expect Superman results. Simply the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. NCLB and high stakes testing were in theory great but in pratice a waste of billios if not trillions with little to no positive results. Few countries educate K-12 or through age 22 as we do. Maybe we should send kids who aren't cutting it by age 12 to different types of schools, not academic, just as many other countries do. Parents are one of the biggest problems in education today, second only to politicians, and until we are able to educate parents about how to bring up kids properly education will alwaya have severe problems. As it is now the schools are always at fault, not the parent or parents. In previous years if one were disciplined in school he/she didn't run home to Mommy and Daddy and tell them because the discipline at home would have been worse than the discipline at school. Today in many cases the first thing a parent does is call his/her lawyer so they can look into suing the school or teacher. It is a sad state of affairs when parents believe what their children tell them 100% of the time. Parents should remember that when they were growing up they shared with their parents only what they wanted to just as their kids do today. Any parent who feels differently should get some counselling.

Not being a union person but giving them their due they are not at the top of the problems in education though their day has come and gone. At times they do protect in a small number of cases poor teachers but is that any different from any other profession? Are there not poor doctors, lawyers, policemen, fire fighters, priests, engineers, politicians etc. etc. who don't belong in their professions.

I would ask the author of WAITING FOR SUPERMAN why it is that so many kids from other countries choose to be educated in America's elementary, secondary and post high schools. Then compare that to the numbers from America who choose to be educated in any other foreign land.

The best thing I can say about this book is that in theory it is OK but in reality it is not practical. If one really wants to learn about public education read Diane Ravitch's: THE FALL AND RISE OF THE GREAT AMERICAN SCHOOL SYSTEM-HOW TESTING AND CHOICE ARE UNDERMINING EDUCATION and/or read FEDS IN THE CLASSROOM. They will learn why we have the problems we do today in public education. These problems stated in Washington when politicians usurped public education in 1979 when during the Carter administration a cabinet position in education was created though there is nothing in our Constitution that gives the Feds this right. Most President's have stated that they were going to be Education Presidents. There is one big problem here. Most never attended public schools but rather private and to compare the two is impossible as the private educate whom they select to while the public educates all who get off the bus. The only time you will ever see a politician in a public school is for a photo shoot. That's probably a good thing as first graders would eat them alive and high school kids would know much more than they do.

WAITING FOR SUPERMAN is another example of: THE ROAD TO HELL BEING PAVED WITH GOO

3 out of 10 people found this review helpful.

Misleading

I agree with RealityMan. I am the mother of two teenagers. One of which just passed her GED and the other is just entering high school with very high standards and is on the B Honor Roll. Success of any individual cannot be completely generalized as it is portrayed in this video. The reason my daughter has any education and completed her GED is because of her actions. The public school she attended is phenominal. The Assistant Principal, counselors, teachers...right on down to the attendance secretary whom I spoke to everyday for years. I literally spent days walking my kid from class to class when I could and still ended up visiting her at the justice center for truancy. If anyone is to blame it is me and not the system. I had a child who was defiant and I should have been harder on her in the earlier years. If you ask her now, she says the same thing. This video eludes to the idea that public education is bias, unfair, and responsible for raising children. That is not true. Education in this country is available to anyone. However, the people have to come their half of the way to meet it. I know now that if I don't 'lay down the law' on expectations at school and hold the hard line; my child will have less of a chance of being successful. Superman is MOM AND DAD!

1 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Well worth watching to see some of the horrible things that are

Well worth watching to see some of the horrible things that are going on.

Haven't Done Their Homework

This film is highly influenced by the objectives of privatized education. As such, it does not provide an objective analysis of today's schools. In addition, more recent news accounts suggest the data provided for school improvements under Rhee may not be authentic. Consequently, it leaves the viewer with lots of questions and very few answers.

0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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