Opinion: Why This ‘Superman’ Doesn’t Fly

A shallow oversimplification of the problems plaguing U.S. schools, writes eSchool News editor Dennis Pierce
By: Dennis Pierce, Editor
 
Nov. 10, 2010 - PRLog -- Bethesda, Md. -- In the widely discussed film Waiting for ‘Superman,’ which calls attention to the need for improving U.S. public education, the audience is given a very narrow view of the problems facing schools and how to solve them, says eSchool News Editor Dennis Pierce. And while filmmaker Davis Guggenheim deserves credit for shining a spotlight on the need for action, his shallow framing of the school-reform debate could hurt schools even further in the end.

“Remarkably, in a documentary spanning nearly two hours, Guggenheim doesn’t interview a single classroom teacher about what’s wrong with American public education,” Pierce writes in his editor’s column for the Nov./Dec. issue of eSchool News. As a result, “what emerges from these interviews is a reinforcing of tired, old stereotypes about how unions are blocking much-needed reforms … but very little new insight.”

By presenting teachers’ unions as “a menace and an impediment to reform” (a direct quote from the film), Guggenheim “creates the kind of two-dimensional villain that you’d expect to find in a comic book featuring the hero mentioned in his film title,” Pierce writes. “And [Guggenheim] focuses on this caricature at the expense of other, very legitimate problems in public education.”

These include meeting the various requirements of a diverse group of learners, many of whom have special needs or speak English as a second language—and giving teachers the tools and support they need to be effective.

“If Superman’s contributors thought highly enough of teachers to listen to their concerns, they’d learn that teachers are crying out for more support,” Pierce writes. “In one of the largest-ever national surveys of public school teachers, commissioned by Scholastic Inc. and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and released in March, fewer than half of the teachers surveyed (45 percent) said higher salaries are absolutely essential for retaining good teachers. More teachers said it’s essential to have supportive leadership (68 percent), time to collaborate (54 percent), and high-quality curriculum (49 percent).”

It’s time we had a deeper, more meaningful, and far more introspective conversation about what it will take to improve our nation’s schools, Pierce says—and one that addresses the issue of funding in a more responsible way.

“Let’s also be honest about how much it costs to attain success,” he writes. “At least two of the charter school projects featured in Superman, Locke High School in Los Angeles and the Harlem Children’s Zone, get much of their funding from private or corporate contributions—[a] detail the film conveniently omits.”

At eSchool News Online, which has been reporting on school-reform issues for more than a decade, the editors have created a new platform for holding this important conversation: http://www.eschoolnews.com/reform. This brand-new section of the eSN web site contains the latest news, research, and opinions to help school and community leaders explore real, effective strategies for moving education forward in the 21st century.

“The challenges facing public education today require responsible, thoughtful, multifaceted solutions that involve all stakeholders working in concert—not shallow responses or agenda-driven reformers with superhero aspirations,” Pierce concludes. “We don’t need a Superman; what we need instead is a collective commitment to doing the hard work necessary to bolster public education as the foundation of a strong democracy. Anything less would be a disservice to our nation and our children.”

To read Pierce’s entire column, go to http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/11/08/opinion-this-superm....

About eSchool News

eSchool News covers education technology and school reform from a variety of perspectives—from legislation and litigation, to case studies and best practices, to the latest research and new products. First published in March 1998, eSchool News is a monthly print and digital newspaper providing the news and information necessary to help K-20 decision makers successfully use technology and the internet to transform schools and colleges and achieve their educational goals. The newspaper is read by more than 300,000 school leaders, and a companion web site—eSchool News Online (http://www.eschoolnews.com)—is visited by more than 500,000 unique visitors each month, including more than 250,000 registered members.

Contact: Dennis Pierce, Editor, dpierce@eschoolnews.com
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