Waiting for Superman

Well, spring break for my college was last week.  I spent the past seven days in St. Louis working on a service project, fixing up community gardens in disadvantaged neighborhoods and learning about a variety of social justice issues, including but not limited to human trafficking and the sorry, sorry state of America's educational system.  To kick off discussion of the latter issue, the City Lights project director hosted a screening of 2010's Waiting for Superman.  It's a challenging, polarizing, and convicting interpretation of what has gone wrong in America's schools, and what can be done to fix them.

 The film follows the lives of several young students in their families, detailing the issues they clash with trying to ensure their intellectual future.  The stories of these students are inter-cut with commentary on flawed mainstays in America's schools, such as the teacher tenure system and the 'tracking' system utilized by many school districts to assign high school courses via skill level.

The film advocates the philosophy of Charter Schools, which boast longer class times and focused curriculum, as an alternative to poor public schools or exclusive private schools.  As with any documentary, any attempt at impartiality is fruitless, and the film glazes over some important points held  onto by those of opposing opinions, and relies heavily on statics that may be affected by other factors.  However, Waiting for Superman brings to light many key issues about a problem that will only grow worse as time goes on: poverty and poor upbringing are less important factors in the declining education levels in America than commonly assumed.  In the end, those fighting over education aren't doing their best to benefit the people most affected by their squabbling: the students.

Regardless of your position on the issue of America's educational system, this is a well-made documentary with a lot of heart, and it accomplishes what any good documentary should: it instills a fervor in the viewer to want to learn more about the issue discussed and come up with their own conclusions.