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WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN”

"An Indictment Against America’s Failing Public Schools"

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What You Need To Know:

WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN” is a very insightful, incisive examination of the failing public education system in the United States. Davis Guggenheim’s excellent documentary explores the current state of public schools in our nation and the adverse effects of poor education on American children. It candidly analyzes the effects of poor education on local neighborhoods while probing into the nightmare of bureaucratic entanglements between federal, state and local school funding. It focuses on several education reformers fighting against the failing system to produce charter schools and other alternatives that defy the odds of their neighborhoods and offer children quality education.

WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN” is an excellent documentary. It is well directed and its points are well conveyed. It has several animation sequences sprinkled throughout that offer alarming statistics on dropout rates, criminal rates amongst dropouts, costs of failing schools, and declining test scores amongst American students. Though some left-wing viewpoints are mentioned, the movie seems to prefer more conservative, patriotic solutions that take the teacher unions to task for many of the problems. The movie fails to examine the quality of private and homeschool systems, but that is not the director’s goal.

Content:

(H, BB, PC, ACap, Co, So, Fe, P, L, V, D, M) Light mixed humanist worldview with some strong moral content as well as documentary examines the overall failings of the U.S. public education system with several sides of the argument depicted ranging from politically correct, anti-capitalist, communist, socialist, feminist progressive ideologies presented but also patriotic and conservative views of education presented and somewhat extolled as the NEA and teacher’s unions are shown to be a major source of the educational problem; one obscenity and two light substitutionary words; light, brief violence includes archive footage of union protests and home video footage of people doing ill-advised homemade stunts; no sex; no nudity; no alcohol; brief cigarette smoking shown in teacher’s waiting room; and, public schools that excel hold lotteries for students because there is too long of a waiting list.

More Detail:

WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN” is a very insightful, and often incisive, examination of the failing public education system in the United States as it exposes the detrimental flaws of the National education Association, tenure and the teacher’s unions.

Davis Guggenheim’s excellent documentary explores the current state of public schools in our nation and the adverse effects of poor education on American children. It candidly analyzes the effects of poor education on local neighborhoods while probing into the nightmare of bureaucratic entanglements between federal, state and local school funding. The movie scrutinizes the tragedy of what many people are now calling our public schools: dropout factories. It also questions the validity of giving tenure to underperforming teachers as well as the iron grip of the teacher unions. At the same time, the movie shines the light on several exemplary charter schools and public schools that are utilizing cutting edge teaching techniques and excelling past their local, failing counterparts.

Geoffrey Canada, a public school educator and president of the Harlem Children’s Zone, David Levin and Mike Feinberg, founders of the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP), and Michelle Rhee, chancellor of the Washington D.C. public school system since 2007, are just a few of the admirable educators highlighted in the movie. These individuals, along with many others across the nation, are fighting against the failing system to produce charter schools and public boarding schools that defy the odds of their neighborhoods and offer children quality education.

WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN” is an excellent documentary. It is well directed and the point is well conveyed. It has several animation sequences sprinkled throughout that offer alarming statistics on dropout rates, criminal rates amongst dropouts, costs of failing schools, and declining test scores amongst U.S. students. The movie also integrates wonderful emotional factors as it tells the stories of several young children who, along with their parents and caretakers, are trying to defy the odds and make it into these exemplary charter school programs through their student lotteries. The movie is, at times, heartbreaking and emotional.

While the validity of public education versus private education and even home education is highly debated even among Christians, this movie offers a hopeful look at America’s failing public system and some of the individuals who are giving their lives to offer children quality public education. The movie’s scope does fail, however, to examine the quality of private and home-schooled education systems, but that is not the director’s goal. The director’s goal is to examine the public school system, and in that goal he gets an A+.

The movie does have a mostly mixed humanist worldview with no specific moral elements other than people who are working to change the public school system as well as hearing children discuss how they want to be nurses and doctors to help others. It also highlights multiple sides of the education debate, from progressive, socialist, feminist and even anti-capitalist viewpoints to strong, patriotic points of view. Media-wise viewers should thoroughly enjoy WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN”.

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.


Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.