I'd like to echo G. Carlson's critique of the "Waiting for Superman" recommendation, which is mainly a PR push from the Bill Gates school of privatization. There may be charter schools that are excelling, but for every charter school that is doing markedly better in reading and math than its public school counterpart, there are two that are doing markedly worse. Even more importantly, the film/book follows the destructive fad of demonizing teachers' unions. Every country that offers its students an excellent public education has strong unions and treats its teachers as professionals worthy of dignity and respect. "Superman"--in the form of good teachers--will never show up if you can't offer him job security, a living wage, health care, etc.
The leading argument against the "Waiting for Superman" monologue comes from Diane Ravitch's book, "The Death and Life of the Great American School System". As a primer, I can recommend her review of "Waiting for Superman", published in the New York Review of Books: http://www.nybooks.com/arti...
On Jul 6, 2011 M. Souther wrote:
I'd like to echo G. Carlson's critique of the "Waiting for Superman" recommendation, which is mainly a PR push from the Bill Gates school of privatization. There may be charter schools that are excelling, but for every charter school that is doing markedly better in reading and math than its public school counterpart, there are two that are doing markedly worse. Even more importantly, the film/book follows the destructive fad of demonizing teachers' unions. Every country that offers its students an excellent public education has strong unions and treats its teachers as professionals worthy of dignity and respect. "Superman"--in the form of good teachers--will never show up if you can't offer him job security, a living wage, health care, etc.
The leading argument against the "Waiting for Superman" monologue comes from Diane Ravitch's book, "The Death and Life of the Great American School System". As a primer, I can recommend her review of "Waiting for Superman", published in the New York Review of Books: http://www.nybooks.com/arti...