Waiting for Superman

El artículo adjunto comenta el documental reciente sobre el sistema de
educación pública fracasado, según el cineasta, en EEUU. Claro, las
complejidades del sistema escolar estadounidense (muy decentralizado,
altos flujos de imigrantes con habilidades bajas, segregación racial
residencial, fuertes inversiones en actividades extracurriculares-banda,
deportes-etc.) hace difícil comparar la productividad del sistema de
EEUU con los de países europeos chicos y bastante homogeneos (Finlandia,
Suecia, ect.) y asiaticos (Japón, Corea del Sur, etc.) que, en su
mayoría tienen modelos mucho más centralizados.
enviado por Gregory Elacqua
NYTimes
Movie Review
Waiting for Superman
Paramount Pictures

The educational reformer Geoffrey Canada with students in a documentary
on public schools.
Students Caught in the School Squeeze
By STEPHEN HOLDEN
Published: September 23, 2010

“One of the saddest days of my life was when my mother told me
‘Superman’ did not exist,” the educational reformer Geoffrey Canada
recalls in the opening moments of “Waiting for ‘Superman,’ ” a powerful
and alarming documentary about America’s failing public school system.
“She thought I was crying because it’s like Santa Claus is not real. I
was crying because no one was coming with enough power to save us.”

If Mr. Canada, who was born in the South Bronx and grew up to be one of
the country’s most charismatic and inspiring educators, is not Superman,
he must be a close relative. Those who have read Paul Tough’s book,
“Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and
America,” will know that the 97-block Harlem Children’s Zone, which he
founded and runs, is no miracle. The zone is astoundingly successful at
getting children through high school and into college. But that success,
largely dependent on private money, is a costly product of laborious
trial and error.

Mr. Canada and Michelle A. Rhee, the chancellor of the Washington, D.C.,
public school system since 2007 (she is the seventh superintendent in 10
years), are the principal heroes of the film, directed and narrated by
Davis Guggenheim (“An Inconvenient Truth”), who wrote it with Billy Kimball.

Ms. Rhee, who has stridently challenged Washington’s educational status
quo, has closed ineffective schools and has stood up to the unions that
have made it nearly impossible to fire a teacher, no matter how
incompetent, once tenure has been granted. But the Washington Teachers’
Union refused to vote on a measure under which teachers would give up
tenure in exchange for higher salaries based on merit. (Ms. Rhee’s
status is now in jeopardy after one of her chief supporters, Mayor
Adrian M. Fenty, lost the Democratic primary election to Vincent C.
Gray, the chairman of the City Council. Ms. Rhee and Mr. Gray, who have
sparred in recent years, met on Thursday.)

“Waiting for ‘Superman’ ” is filled with disturbing statistics. In
Illinois, where one in 57 doctors loses his medical license and one in
97 lawyers loses his law license, only one in 2,500 teachers loses his
credentials, because of union rules. The film briefly visits a “rubber
room” in New York City where idle teachers accused of misconduct wait
months and sometimes years for hearings while drawing full salaries at
an annual cost of $65 million.

The resistance to change is personified by Randi Weingarten, the fiery
and articulate former head of the United Federation of Teachers, who now
runs the American Federation of Teachers. Ms. Weingarten, who is
somewhat demonized by the film, is the first to admit that public
education is in crisis, but she represents thousands of teachers who
depend on tenure.

Caught in the squeeze are students. The film’s most emotional moments
revolve around five children whose futures depend on winning a lottery
to a charter school. Anthony, a Washington fifth grader raised by his
grandmother in a bad neighborhood, is among 64 applicants for 24 spots
at the Seed School, a public charter school from which 9 out of 10
students go on to college. Francisco, a Bronx first grader, is among 792
applicants for 40 spots at the Harlem Success Academy. Applying to the
same school, Bianca, a kindergartner, is one of 767 children competing
for 35 spots. Daisy, a fifth grader in East Los Angeles who dreams of
being doctor, is among 135 applicants for 10 spots at Kipp LA Prep.

Finally, there is Emily, an eighth grader in Silicon Valley, whose
problems with math will place her on a lower academic track if she
remains at the same high school in her affluent community. Her best hope
is to be accepted at an even better charter school nearby where students
aren’t placed in such tracks.

In his low-key narration, Mr. Guggenheim acknowledges that charter
schools have had mixed success in elevating academic standards and
preparing children for college. But in the Harlem Children’s Zone, the
schools become involved with all aspects of the students’ lives from a
very young age.

Mr. Guggenheim calls dysfunctional schools “dropout factories.” For
children growing up in poor neighborhoods where parents lack the
resources to send them to private schools, the consequences can be dire,
not to mention economically wasteful.

Consider the following statistics cited in the film: the annual cost of
prison for an inmate is more than double what is spent on an individual
public school student. Eight years after Congress passed the No Child
Left Behind act, with the goal of 100 percent proficiency in math and
reading, most states hovered between 20 and 30 percent proficiency, and
70 percent of eighth graders could not read at grade level. By 2020,
only an estimated 50 million Americans will be qualified to fill 123
million highly skilled, highly paid jobs. Among 30 developed countries,
the United States ranks 25th in math and 21st in science.

“Waiting for ‘Superman’ ” doesn’t explore the deeper changes in American
society that have led to this crisis: the widening gap between rich and
poor, the loosening of the social contract, the coarsening of the
culture and the despair of the underclass. By showing how fiercely
dedicated idealists are making a difference, it is a call to arms.

The movie’s happy-sad ending observes the moment of decision as the five
children wait to learn if they have won the lotteries. It is sad that
the direction of a young life depends on the dropping of a numbered ball
from plexiglass box.

“Waiting for ‘Superman’ ” is rated PG (Parental guidance suggested). It
has mild language and incidental smoking.

Waiting for ‘Superman’ Opens on Friday in New York and Los Angeles.
Directed by Davis Guggenheim; written by Mr. Guggenheim and Billy
Kimball; director of photography, Erich Roland and Bob Richman; edited
by Greg Finton, Jay Cassidy and Kim Roberts; original song “Shine” by
John Legend; produced by Lesley Chilcott; released by Para- mount
Vantage. Running time: 1 hour 42 minutes.

-
Gregory Elacqua
--
Director
Instituto de Políticas Publicas
Facultad de Economía y Empresa
Universidad Diego Portales
Ejército 260
Santiago, Chile

gregory.elacqua@udp.cl
______