(d acJ4@%Q8C/! We need to get involved and take ownership over this and go to the schools and tutor, go to the schools and mentor. /ProcSet [ /PDF /Text ] The issue is, and we saw it and heard it in the town hall today a lot, we need to have instruments like they do in every other business to effectively judge and assess teachers. /Rotate 0 You could fail those kids for another 20 years, everybody keeps their job, nobody gets the go. Waiting for Superman. LESTE BELL, DAISYS TEACHER: She chose her college and she wrote a letter to the admissions and asking them to allow her to attend their college. By the nature of who my family is. The union leaderships could take this on as a platform and say this is something we're going to commit to and give our membership behind this so we can show progress in taking on these issues. Because you would think that the parents of those children that Michelle was in there shaking up the system to save those children, if those parents would have rallied, but we have gotten so used to failure, we tolerate failure in places like D.C. and central Harlem and Detroit, we just tolerate that failure and we've got to say to this nation, no more. You know, in Washington, D.C., under Mayor Fenty who arguably I think is the most courageous politician we have on these education reform issues, we did everything, arguably, that people wanted to see. Through the stories of five children who wanted to attend a charter school, the film shows how one child was accepted and another child was accepted from the wait list while three children were not accepted at all. The lottery in this movie is a metaphor. << My kids have won the lottery. I went up there, Jeff Zucker pushed me to go up there one day. We even tolerate mediocre teachers. }>=Uw2cS=V. I9kZJw^EAOd j]Y[wl-e06E#/mlyTbE9f}@8 a/ ^} Towards the end of the film, there is a segment that illustrates the charter school lottery as it takes place for different schools. SCARBOROUGH: You were on the board for Harlem Village Academy. [8], Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4 and wrote, "What struck me most of all was Geoffrey Canada's confidence that a charter school run on his model can make virtually any first-grader a high school graduate who's accepted to college. When they hear this back and forth, there's the sense of like, you know what, put my head in the sand, take care of my own kids because this debate has been going on for generations. But I think we have to get a layer deeper than just the platitudes that remain on the stage. When you put a face on this issue, as we talk about the details of it, that's the thing I keep saying to myself, let's not forget as we argue and discuss and learn about this, let's not forget the kids. That was in the second grade, because my father had passed. GUGGENHEIM: Ive seen the movie hundreds of times. As part of lifting the cap they wanted to make sure that there was accountability for everyone. /CropBox [ 0 0 595.27600 841.89000 ] /Length 866 Didn't get an answer on that. 8 0 obj Since many charter schools are not large enough to accept all of their applicants, the selection of students is done by lottery. >> And it says that if all of us are actually committed to fixing this, we will follow the evidence of what works, follow it, be innovative, be creative but follow the evidence of what works and we will all work together to fix this so that every single child has access to a great public education, not by chance, not by privilege but by right. We're going to lose our nation. Why did you pick this topic? /T1_1 20 0 R /BleedBox [ 0 0 595.27600 841.89000 ] /MediaBox [ 0 0 595.27600 841.89000 ] Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim reminds us that education "statistics" have names: Anthony, Francisco, Bianca, Daisy, and Emily, whose stories make up the engrossing foundation of WAITING FOR SUPERMAN. An examination of the current state of education in America today. One of these amazing children is a boy named Anthony. Waiting For Superman was more widely released than any other documentary, and among the highest-grossing documentaries of 2010. Waiting for "Superman," Davis Guggenheim's edifying and heartbreaking new documentary, says that our future depends on good teachers and that the coddling of bad teachers by their powerful unions virtually ensures mediocrity, at best, in both teachers and the students in their care. SCARBOROUGH: Were back with our panel, Michelle, one of the stunning parts of many stunning parts in this documentary, in this film, was when Davis showed the proficiency numbers state by state. "[30] Lastly, Ayers writes that "schools are more segregated today than before Brown v. Board of Education in 1954," and thus criticized the film for not mentioning that "black and brown students are being suspended, expelled, searched, and criminalized. >> This is where the work gets tough, because innovation, this is about innovation. WAITING,FOR,SUPERMAN,DOCUMENTARY,TRANSCRIPT NAKIA: Shes 7 now. WEINGARTEN: John. DAISYS FATHER: Go like this. Anthony's class visits the Seed School, the first urban public boarding school in the country. Davis, god bless you. We just don't want lousy teachers to be able to keep their jobs and kids not get an education. Waiting for Superman | Documentary Heaven Waiting for Superman is a documentary which investigates the different ways in which education is failing students and the development of the American public One of the things we were thinking about, we were covering songs from the civil rights era, from the '60s and '70s and people who fought for justice and equality. What's amazing about these tears, I knew about the film for months and just knowing the system, I knew how it was going to end. KENNY: We catch them up to basic level and we accelerate them to proficient. First, I loved that town hall today. WEINGARTEN: I think look, again, we had a moment in time where we actually got to an agreement. /ArtBox [ 0 0 595.27600 841.89000 ] Ravitch also writes that many charter schools are involved in "unsavory real estate deals" [31], In 2011, many news media reported on a testing score "cheating scandal" at Rhee's schools, because the test answer sheets contained a suspiciously high number of erasures that changed wrong answers to right answers. As he follows a handful of promising kids through a system that inhibits, rather than encourages, academic growth, Guggenheim undertakes an exhaustive review of public education, surveying "drop-out factories" and "academic sinkholes," methodically dissecting the system and its seemingly intractable problems. If I have kids, I don't want kids to be in this environment. Where has the union misstepped to help us get to where we are today? I am the first one to say, that charter schools are not the answer. We're feeling a real sense of commitment. [1], The film has earned both praise and negative criticism from commentators, reformers, and educators. documentary Because we talked to Randi before. You don't have all sorts of external rules. schools. But, Mondello Why were you frightened to send her to school. I knew what the final scene would look like and I still broke down three times. "[19] Forbes' Melik Kaylan similarly liked the film, writing, "I urge you all to drop everything and go see the documentary Waiting For "Superman" at the earliest opportunity. SCARBOROUGH: Because we've been up to Harlem, we've seen what's happening up there. Documentary on Americas Public School System - The New waiting for superman documentary transcript I've been amazed by what's possible. SCARBOROUGH: What have you learned since getting involved? BRZEZINSKI: On Tuesday morning at 8:00 a.m. from this very stage, General Colin Powell and his wife on "MORNING JOE." 1 0 obj << SCARBOROUGH: I tell you what, that was the part of the movie where Daisy, you saw her crossing her fingers and write physically got nauseated. Seventy-eight percent of them, this is not our survey, this was their survey, said a union was absolutely essential to them to try and stop school politics or principal abuses. BRZEZINSKI: If you leave Washington, D.C. are you going to Newark? Waiting for 'Superman' the title refers to a Harlem educators childhood belief that a superhero would fix the problems of the ghetto won an Audience Award at JOHN LEGEND, SONGWRITER: Well, it's an interesting story because I was making this album "Wake-Up." SCARBOROUGH: Randi said the teachers wanted the tools to get the job done. I think we all have to look in the mirror and say, what have we done wrong up until now and what do we need to do better? The goal of the film is to create a successful public education system filled with great schoolsthat leave no child behind, andit calls for reform from all of usin order to reach that goal. We're also joined by Deborah Canny of the Harlem Village Academy. But it's not just Harlem -- if my movie, I call it, they're breaking a sound barrier. /Font << [31] Ravitch served as a board member with the NAEP and says that "the NAEP doesn't measure performance in terms of grade-level achievement," as claimed in the film, but only as "advanced," "proficient," and "basic." Geoffrey Canada: One of the saddest days of my life was when my mother told me Superman did not exist. Waiting for Superman /Resources << This is a documentary about our failing education system and the tears we saw in this room are about our children and how our schools are leaving them behind. We've been talking about the teacher town hall hosted by Brian Williams earlier today. When you have kids from Harlem going there with first grade reading proficiency and science proficiency and they leave three years later with 100 percent proficiency, it just -- at some point it becomes a moral issue. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Explain to me how that is good for children. The issue is about how we create the best environment for kids. SCARBOROUGH: Davis, let's begin with you. SCARBOROUGH: What we hear, Randi, morning after morning after morning from progressives, from conservatives, from Republicans, from Democrats, from independents, seems to be the same thing. What's Mayor Bloomberg doing right? In New York City, a group of local teachers protested one of the documentary's showings, calling the film "complete nonsense", writing that "there is no teacher voice in the film. However, the film shows how even charter schools leave some children behind, as those who are not chosen by the luck of the draw in the lottery system, are not able to attend the charter schools of their choice. Only 3 out of 100 students at Roosevelt will graduate with the necessary classes for admission to a four year university. We spruced up -- modernized the building. [32][33][34][35][36], A teacher-backed group called the Grassroots Education Movement produced a rebuttal documentary titled The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman, which was released in 2011. HdT]H|G?GdW{MND)>qOX3cL>NHjr5i:bSqu BRZEZINSKI: Exactly. The film illustrates the problem of how American public schools are failing children, as it explicitly describes many public schools as drop-out factories, in which over 40% of students do not graduate on time. KENNY: Right. /GS1 17 0 R It looks like we don't have any synopsis for this title yet. /ProcSet [ /PDF /Text ] In some ways when we fought for sources for kids like my union did, we were fighting to help kids get what they needed. We'll hear from the audience as well. Go. We'll come back and continue this. It's must-see TV. Today is her graduation, and she's not allowed to go because do I owe some tuition. /GS0 18 0 R Having made a film on the subject in 1999, documentary filmmaker. We love hard-working teachers. "Waiting for Superman," a fascinating new documentary, is drawing attention to the state of our public school, directed by Davis Guggenheim, who brought us SCARBOROUGH: Last in, first out. WEINGARTEN: Theres lots of -- look. So the kids who came to us in 8 plus 3 they would couldn't the like this. SCARBOROUGH: Hold on a second. She said Washington, D.C. even on its best day, wasn't like New York City on its worst day. Waiting for "Superman" is a 2010 American documentary film written and directed by Davis Guggenheim and produced by Lesley Chilcott. Were going to talk to in a second and thats where Jeff Zucker told me I needed to go. RHEE: I don't think they are. We'll be joined also by Grammy award-winning singer/songwriter John Legend and our friend at "MORNING JOE" as well. BRZEZINSKI: These are compelling arguments that we all can agree on but, Randi, let me just put it to you this way. SCARBOROUGH: Right. [16], The film has also garnered praise from a number of conservative critics. SCARBOROUGH: All right, Davis, Davis, you said at the beginning you didn't want to get involved in this project. Waiting for Superman.2010. GUGGENHEIM: Absolutely. /Parent 1 0 R /Properties << 3 0 obj /ArtBox [ 0 0 595.27600 841.89000 ] I said that's right, but that was mommy's choice to put you in that school. << We love good teachers. You don't come off well in this movie. endobj It is about working together to create problem solving contracts and ultimately, Michelle, it's not about you or I. I like to follow the evidence. We have to take ownership. /MediaBox [ 0 0 595.27600 841.89000 ] We can run the school the way we want, which is to give our teachers the power to teach. RHEE: Yes, that's right. "[20], The film also received negative criticism. GUGGENHEIM: Whats really -- people -- when I hear this conversation, I want to bring it back to parents. Thank you so much. And we're going to figure out, we're going to get people together here. BRZEZINSKI: Okay. Feb 22, 2013. SCARBOROUGH: All right. Weve seen some innovation spread more than one place. NAKIA: The public schools in my neighborhood don't add up to what I want from her. You fought the law and the law won. Since charter schools do not operate with the same restrictions as public institutions, they are depicted as having a more experimental approach to educating students. I want to ask you another really quick question and then go around to the rest of the panel. BRZEZINSKI: When we come back, we'll be joined -- SCARBOROUGH: One thing we do agree on -- BRZEZINSKI: We have to go. BRZEZINSKI: When the results came down, we watched you respond, we watched her respond. GEOFFREY CANADA, PRES. There are people who have figured out systems of improving education and the mayor was very aggressive in bringing those folk into New York City and saying to them, we're going to remove the obstacles for you all to do your work. I think that teachers are not the problem, they are the solution to the problems that we face. /Resources << So we're going to differentiate and we're going to recognize and reward the highest performing teachers and we're going to look at the lowest performing teachers and we're going to remove them from the system. And what teachers have told us is that focus instead on the tools and conditions we need to do our jobs. Waiting for Superman (song), a 2013 song by the American rock band Daughtry. Trying to hide the fact that I had been balling my eyes out, I said I can't -- I knew how this was going to end and I was still crying.