Waiting for Kryptonite VII.
September 22, 2010
This is probably the last in a series of reviews of the faux doc Waiting for Superman. Alistair Bomphray teaches English and Journalism at Cal State Hayward.
Unfortunately, Guggenheim’s view on this debate is as free from nuance as a DC comic book. Enter Michelle Rhee, the chancellor of D.C. schools, as the caped union buster. And over there, feasting on the wormy corpses of our children’s dreams, is Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, as Lex Luthor. Rather than provide useful historical context or explore the philosophical gap between these two opposing figures, Guggenheim is content to paint the issue in broad strokes. Yes, of course, the Rubber Room is straight out of Catch 22, and, yes, of course, there are bad teachers out there (we’ve all had them), but, c’mon, what about all of the average to amazing teachers who are doing their job? Instead, Guggenheim focuses on a minority—the woefully inept, cruelly indifferent, really, really, bad teacher.
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I think instead of a whining attitude, people ought to comment on Guggheneim’s approach for JUST what it is. If he has a stance, then out with it instead of using kids as props for masking what he really wants to say. Guggenheim, in order to give school choice, must we sacrifice public education which has produced so many fine accomplished citizens over the years, OR are youjust promoting a charter and privatized system? Mr. G. if you’re not cut out for such a discusson, and are just a film maker ,then say so.
Good vs. bad teachers, is a Sarah Palin simplistic type comparision. We should be talking about what kinds of measures principals and districts use to rate teachers. “Good and bad” are not on rating forms, that I know of.
The “Waiting for Superman” website calls on the public to “Take Action” and “Get Local,” so I looked at what they urge us San Franciscans to do. First, contact United Way. I e-mailed the contact, who turned over my question to the local United Way PR person. Their “action” is: Donate to United Way, pay attention to candidates’ opinions about schools and vote; and volunteer. I mean, those things are all excellent (well, if you overlook the various past scandals involving misuse of United Way money), but hardly a call to revolution.
The “Get Local” page also links to an organization called Families That Can, which is some kind of California organization representing charter schools. It’s not clear what Families That Can actually does. As a very involved California public school activist, I had never heard of them before.
The thing to do these days (in political circles as well) is give your group a name which can be either friend or foe (but be neutral sounding). People need to find out what the groups ARE before they donate.