WfSM zeroed in on a few selected targets and then made a giant blanket statement.
Not really. They gave graduation statistics for all states and did a comparison of proficiency test scores of the US with developed nations. We've slipped from being tops in the 1970s to somewhere around 20th now.The movie largely focused on what people are trying to do to make improvements given the huge bureaucratic nightmare that is entrenched. This included administrators like Michelle Rhee and Geoffrey Canada, but also individual parents who were trying to find the best possible education for their kids, often at the expense of their own well-being.
The world needs ditch diggers too.
Which was discussed in this film. Have you even seen it?
wat
They discussed the idea that not every kid is trying to get early admission at Stanford.I was curious if you had seen the movie since some of your responses seemed to indicate that you hadn't.I don't think everything in this movie was dead on the mark. They promoted Michelle Rhee as some kind of public education savior when it was clear that she had flaws in her approach and was at times heavy-handed. There was also the theme that every kid can realize this amazing outcome if we only had better teachers which seems false on its face. There was little onus placed on the parents, and most of the parents in the movie were overzealously trying to find the absolute best situation for their kids at the expense of basically everything else in their lives. One parent put her kid in a private school in Harlem at the cost of $500/month only to get woefully behind on tuition payments and having her kid excluded from graduation ceremonies.Nonetheless, it did show how antiquated and ridiculous our current public education system is, and how little things have changed for the better even though money spent per student has increased dramatically over the last 50 years. Part of that (not all) is due to inflexibility of the unions which seem to place job security over and above any other end point in the educational system. There was a scene in the movie where Rhee proposed unique incentives where DC teachers could earn well in excess of six figures if the union was willing to negotiate on tenure. The union wouldn't even allow a vote on the issue. I'm hardly anti-union. I think generally they are fine, but clearly there are times when the pendulum swings too far, and this is one instance. There are few incentives for excellent teaching. I should know. I teach at a public university where no one gives a rats ### if you're an effective instructor. No one here is getting tenure due to their fantastic teaching. Tenure, in general, is a silly idea. It's even sillier to employ people who are terrible at their job. However, teachers need some measure of protection against being blamed for not being able to pass kids who have no outside support system. I get that. There has to be something done, though, to find a better solution. What exists now, on average nationwide, is horrendous.