The Wait Is Over

Post submitted by Sean Slade, director of ASCD's Healthy School Communities.

Back on September 21, 2010, just after the release of Waiting for Superman and immediately following director Davis Guggenheim's appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show, ASCD's Executive Director, Dr. Gene Carter, wrote an open letter that highlighted the lack of actual teachers involved in the show, film, or subsequent discussions:

As a career educator and the executive director of ASCD, an education association of 160,000 educators worldwide, I was dismayed that your show on education reform excluded a key demographic from the dialogue: teachers. Yet the research—and your high-profile guests—say a child's teacher is the most important factor to determining his or her success.

So what do teachers think of Waiting for Superman? Last week Guggenheim, to his credit, asked teachers to respond and post their thoughts about his film and what many deem as its negative appraisal of teachers. Oakland, Calif., teacher Anthony Cody drew attention to the responses to Guggenheim's post—which as of last Friday (November 19) had 85 comments, of which two were positive and 83 were . . . well, here's a sampling:

• Your film has become another instrument in polarizing the issue of education reform by promoting a corporate takeover of public schools, while blaming hard-working teachers and their unions for all the wrongs with public schools. Instead of trying to bring people together in solving this complex problem, your film had hindered any possibility of real collegiality among stakeholders.
• This film was a wasted opportunity. How could you make an entire film about the problems in so-called "failing" schools, and never actually visit or interview anyone within them? And how could you rely on the "expert" analysis of people who have never taught or studied education, let alone tried to understand the issues facing struggling schools? Several of your "experts" are ideologues who are deeply invested in undermining public education.

• There are supermen and women all over this country committed to educating their students as best they can every day. But you declined to . . . talk with any of them in your movie about them.
• As a retiree having spent 40 years in education, I’m fairly knowledgeable of education issues. I must say, I could not have believed, without seeing for myself, that so much misinformation and distortion could have been packaged in an hour-and-45-minute presentation. I've never viewed a stronger propaganda piece.
• Your movie is a knife to the heart for so many teachers. You present a slick film that tells half of a story, emphasizes what you want and ignores anything that might poke a hole in the theory your benefactors wanted presented.
• I find it hard to believe your movie is anything but a slick propaganda piece for privatization via charter schools.
• My wife has been a public school teacher for many years . . . she feels it is an attack on her and an attack on public education. Why didn't you go into public schools and spend time with teachers, depicting the struggles, challenges, and rewards of the profession?
• I think that your documentary is EXACTLY what my students and I don't need. We don't need a documentary about public education without a single public education teacher. I expected a more nuanced view of education you know, where, you look at the factors that cause failing schools such as poverty, inequitable funding, harsh government guidelines, zero tolerance policies. Not some union bashing and teacher scapegoating nonsense.
• I felt personally offended by your film. It's oversimplified and antagonistic message has stirred me into becoming a whole education activist.
• I commend you for bringing education reform to the larger public. Unfortunately, like so many who are involved in the current debate over education reform, you have only asked for teachers' input when it's past the point of meaning much. Your film is invigorating those who don't care to read or research and are now crusading against the easy enemy of education; teachers and their representation.

These comments are one way to add educators voices to the mainstream, but commenters raise a valid point: what difference will it make months after the film's release? To that end, I encourage you to check out opportunities to take action on the Whole Child website and ASCD's Action Center.

There is an alternative to Guggenheim's characterization of education—just don't wait to be asked for it.