Waiting for Superman… My Thoughts

If you ever wanted to know why Americans are so behind in the curve in terms of education, Waiting for Superman definitely does a good job of explaining it. Although it only provides a snapshot of the myriad of issues that plague our country’s education system, it really showed me how they affect 3 main groups: the Families, the Teachers, and the Bureaucracy. According the movie (and not always the case), I gathered that the Families were most affected by the issues, the Teachers were both part of the problem AND the solution, and Bureaucrats, although they may sometimes attempt to fix it, really do more to impede progress than to make it.

Another thing that really hit home to me that there are a ton of parents out there, just like mine, who cared equally as much as mine (or even more), who go through great lengths and heartbreaks to give their child the CHANCE to have what they didn’t have: a good education. The most difficult to swallow, however, was the situation of the charter school lottery. The lottery is the only way to get accepted to a charter school, and it was difficult to fathom how the parents that didn’t make the lottery were able to tell their kids that they couldn’t go, and to explain to them why.

As a firm believer in education as the de facto path to success, this documentary meant a lot to me. Waiting for “Superman” is chock full of information, and an eye-opener to those who don’t have the “luxury” of entering the personal hell of fighting against the powers-that-be to get some real education reform done in our country. I feel its directly relevant to success in that without education, we as Americans will continue to struggle with developing and retaining talent, and ultimately fade away into irrelevance, just like we see in failing corporations.

Take a look at the DVD. It’s worth it.