Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/17719
The blame game attend Woodside High school, a school with above- average test scores in a wealthy area. There is also a dramatic scene where a student in a private school is not allowed to graduate on stage because her mother hasn’t paid full tuition, as if that’s the fault of the pub- lic school system. The movie’s message, stated throughout the film by so-called reformers, is that teachers unions are a “menace” and an obstacle to reform, and that charter schools are the silver bullet — even though research doesn’t correlate with that. Some charter schools, based on the movie, have even adopted a new slogan, “We are Superman,” according to Ed- ucation Week. “We’ve tried throwing money at public schools, and it hasn’t worked,” Guggenheim tells the audience. But that’s not the case in California. We’ve cut $17 billion from public schools in the last two years. Teachers have been laid off, classrooms are over- crowded, programs have been cut, and we are nearly last in the nation when it comes to funding. Ask any California teacher and they’ll tell you their budgetary needs are not being met. The movie also seems to portray No Child Left Behind as being a good thing for making schools “accountable,” despite the fact that it has turned them into testing factories and pun- ishes struggling schools instead of helping them. Guggenheim offers lots of flashy graph- ics, music and sound bites, but he’s got it all wrong. The f ilm seems to imply that “super teachers” are the only solution to what ails pub- lic schools, ignoring other issues such as pov- erty, second-language acquisition, resources and parental involvement. Waiting for Superman ultimately fails as a dis- cussion about the public school system because it spends hardly any time looking at traditional pub- lic schools. By focusing almost entirely on char- ters, it simply tells the story the filmmaker wished to tell about charters. Guggenheim shows one brief instance of a positive example in a tradition- al public school, a teacher who does rapping math lessons. It never shows the “bad” neighborhood schools or teachers that supposedly doom the children in the film to lifetime failure. The movie also doesn’t show one example of unions, administrators, school board members and parents working together as partners to improve pub- lic education. I have visited many school districts where a spirit of cooperation prevails, and a lot can get accomplished when factions work together in- stead of fighting one another. It’s not uncommon for principals to walk out of their offices and welcome me personally to their schools, and thank me and CTA for working to improve public education. Yes, that ac- tually happens. The movie tugs at the heart strings, but it is (continued) A closer look at the film’s super myths to improve their local schools. NEA’s Priority Schools Campaign supports schools that are thinking about education differently. From teacher-led schools in Denver, to service learning in Ohio, to teacher mentoring in Michigan, school districts are working collaboratively with local unions to improve teaching and learning. Super Myth #3: Unions are unwilling to commit to commonsense solutions. CTA has fought for students’ rights to quality public education for nearly 150 years. In 1988, CTA won the passage of Proposition 98, which guarantees a minimum portion of state money to fund K-14 education. CTA has defended Prop. 98 from attacks time and time again. In 1995, CTA sponsored a class size reduction law for K-3 classrooms. In 2003, CTA won the passage of a $12.3 billion statewide school construction bond. And CTA passed the Quality Education 28 California Educator | OCTOBER 2010 SPECIAL ELECTION ISSUE Investment Act in 2006, which uses money from the settlement of a lawsuit over Prop. 98 to fund proven reforms at schools of greatest need. America’s public education system has recently captured the attention and imagination of lawmakers, newscasters, commentators, filmmakers and the general public. NEA welcomes others to join this large and very important national conversation. In many places, the situation is urgent, so for those new to the conversation, the impulse is to recommend simple silver-bullet solutions. Of course, the challenges our public schools face are myriad and complex. NEA seeks solutions that are based on research, collaborative, and well planned and executed. Smaller class sizes, increased teacher autonomy and flexibility, higher status for the teaching profession, improved teacher quality and professional development programs, broader support and involvement by parents and the