Waiting For Superman Film Analysis
“Waiting for Superman” Movie Review
The movie, “Waiting for Superman” depicts the struggles faced by children and families to gain a seat in a charter school. The children are from various cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. However, they all have one goal in common, receiving a better education than offered by public schools or pricey private schools. As the movie shows, it is not an easy task to gain admission into charter schools; the process is stressful and based on luck, not merit. From the five children and families presented in the film, only two of the children ultimately gain admission in the desired charter school. According to our text, charter schools are a free alternative to public education. They receive some funding
from the Department of Education, but most is derived from fundraising and grants from outside sources. The rise in charter schools has increased in urban areas where educational funds are most times allocated to keeping buildings functional than to state of the art technologies to help students prepare for college. In the film, four of the five students are of low socioeconomic status, living in urban, city neighborhoods and attending public school. The parents of these children are struggling to meet the needs of their families, yet still believe that education is the key to helping their child succeed. For instance, Bianca from Harlem is attending a parochial school in order to have a better education than she could receive from her local public school. Unfortunately, her single mother, Nakia, is unable to afford the tuition. As the other families in the movie, Bianca places her name in a lottery system and hopes to be able to go to the charter school. Yet, her name is not drawn. I feel that the charter school system is beneficial because it creates an alternative school for families that cannot afford private or parochial schools. Also, it allows educators who feel they have an innovative curriculum to create their own school. However, I do not agree with the system of selecting children. From the movie, I realized that the mechanism of using lottery system to choose students leaves the unselected children with an unnecessary sense of failure. I acknowledge that it is not possible to select children based on test scores or prepared portfolios and maintain completely unbiased, yet the lottery drawings should not be public so the atmosphere of “winning” or “losing” is not present. In this manner, the children that are not selected would receive a letter in the mail stating that their name was not drawn, not witnessing the public drawing. Overall, “Waiting for Superman” exhibits the consequences presented by charter schools and how children benefit from their presence. Unfortunately, the movie also shows how children who do not gain admission are left with the feeling of failure and disappointment.
The movie, “Waiting for Superman” depicts the struggles faced by children and families to gain a seat in a charter school. The children are from various cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. However, they all have one goal in common, receiving a better education than offered by public schools or pricey private schools. As the movie shows, it is not an easy task to gain admission into charter schools; the process is stressful and based on luck, not merit. From the five children and families presented in the film, only two of the children ultimately gain admission in the desired charter school. According to our text, charter schools are a free alternative to public education. They receive some funding
from the Department of Education, but most is derived from fundraising and grants from outside sources. The rise in charter schools has increased in urban areas where educational funds are most times allocated to keeping buildings functional than to state of the art technologies to help students prepare for college. In the film, four of the five students are of low socioeconomic status, living in urban, city neighborhoods and attending public school. The parents of these children are struggling to meet the needs of their families, yet still believe that education is the key to helping their child succeed. For instance, Bianca from Harlem is attending a parochial school in order to have a better education than she could receive from her local public school. Unfortunately, her single mother, Nakia, is unable to afford the tuition. As the other families in the movie, Bianca places her name in a lottery system and hopes to be able to go to the charter school. Yet, her name is not drawn. I feel that the charter school system is beneficial because it creates an alternative school for families that cannot afford private or parochial schools. Also, it allows educators who feel they have an innovative curriculum to create their own school. However, I do not agree with the system of selecting children. From the movie, I realized that the mechanism of using lottery system to choose students leaves the unselected children with an unnecessary sense of failure. I acknowledge that it is not possible to select children based on test scores or prepared portfolios and maintain completely unbiased, yet the lottery drawings should not be public so the atmosphere of “winning” or “losing” is not present. In this manner, the children that are not selected would receive a letter in the mail stating that their name was not drawn, not witnessing the public drawing. Overall, “Waiting for Superman” exhibits the consequences presented by charter schools and how children benefit from their presence. Unfortunately, the movie also shows how children who do not gain admission are left with the feeling of failure and disappointment.