Davis Guggenheim

111 mins.
Documentary, Education
October 29, 2010

Rated PG for some thematic material, mild language and incidental smoking. (MPAA)

“Waiting for Superman,” directed by Davis Guggenheim, the director-producer of “An Inconvenient Truth,” “It Might Get Loud,” the first season of HBO’s “Deadwood,” and the pilot for 2009’s “Melrose Place” reboot on the CW, is a well-made, mostly well-paced documentary that investigates the problems with the public school system in the United States. It uses techniques common to many contemporary documentaries, including animation, statistics and graphs, and outside footage. As a film, it’s pretty good.

This documentary relies heavily on anecdotes (both personal stories and profiles of schools) to hook the viewer. This goes too far, in my opinion, by the end. At the end, I felt the manipulation the most when the anecdotal students were selected to either attend or not attend their desired charter schools. The problem is that it would take much longer than almost two hours to delve into all of the problems and the subtleties of those problems that surround education in this country. This film tells part of the story, and it doesn’t do a great job of that. It feels a bit too long, yet not quite long enough. And it’s largely misleading.

The takeaways are that most public-school students are in a no-win situation for the most part; the teachers’ unions are a major hindrance to any progress right now; parents have to rely on chance unless they’re rich; and bureaucracy won’t allow for any changes that need to be made throughout the country. Again, this is partly true. But here’s a question: Where are you going to find all of these stellar teachers to teach in a perfect system, if you could put one in place? Here’s another: Can an army of great teachers overcome the societal problems and familial problems that lots of students fall victim to? This film briefly suggests that it may be reverse causality that’s actually at work here: Huh?

Yes, great teachers can perform miracles. And yes, many (but, not most) students have been saved by great teachers. But can those great teachers save an entire, countrywide system? The problems lie not only with mediocre and bad teachers, teachers’ unions, and the government, but also with society as a whole. How many people care about all children instead of just their children? (That’s an idea that’s briefly mentioned in this film.)

Yes, you can compare struggling neighborhood public schools to successful charter schools (most of which are not that successful), successful magnet schools, and successful private schools (all of which aren’t stellar); but what’s the point? To find ways to improve education for all? Can you actually turn every struggling neighborhood school into a school on the level of a successful school? In what universe? If the whole country doesn’t get behind an effort to educate every child and support every child at all times, then these kinds of discussions won’t solve the problem. They may help some kids anecdotally, but the problem will linger.

It’s easy to blame teachers and unions, and they do share some of the blame. But how many of you want to be a teacher? Do you think you’ll be any good at it? Do you think you’ll likely earn enough money for it to be worth it? And don’t even start with merit pay: Who or what will determine the proficiency of a teacher? Will test scores do it? Students? Parents? Administrators? While you’re thinking about that, don’t forget to ask: Are all classes created equal?

This subject is fraught with a myriad of challenges, but “Waiting for Superman” just skims the surface. At some point in the film, Guggenheim notes that he made another documentary, “The First Year,” which aired on PBS in 2001. That documentary chronicles the struggles of inner-city public-school teachers. Here’s what he should do next: Make a documentary about all of the success stories that come out of traditional public schools. Then we’ll compare notes.

Verdict: Good to Somewhat Good

About: (Source: waitingforsuperman)

For a nation that proudly declared it would leave no child behind, America continues to do so at alarming rates. Despite increased spending and politicians’ promises, our buckling public education system, once the best in the world, routinely forsakes the education of millions of children. Oscar®-winning filmmaker Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) reminds us that education “statistics” have names: Anthony, Francisco, Bianca, Daisy, and Emily, whose stories make up the engrossing foundation of Waiting for “Superman.”

As he follows a handful of promising kids through a system that inhibits, rather than encourages, academic growth, Guggenheim undertakes an exhaustive review of public education, surveying “drop-out factories” and “academic sinkholes,” methodically dissecting the system and its seemingly intractable problems. However, embracing the belief that good teachers make good schools, Guggenheim offers hope by exploring innovative approaches taken by education reformers and charter schools that have—in reshaping the culture—refused to leave their students behind.