LA Film Fest 5: Waiting for 'Superman'

This heartwrenching documentary from the director of An Inconvenient Truth asks tough questions about America's failing public schools..

By Aireka Muse
Published: June 24th, 2010 | 12:55pm

Failing schools and failing neighborhoods—which is the chicken and which is the egg? In Waiting for ‘Superman’ director Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth, It Might Get Loud) examines America’s floundering public school system and the roots of this monumental dilemma. In an emotional approach, the director gives this issue new life by taking a look at how education affects those who matter most: the children.

In his 2001 television documentary The First Year, Guggenheim followed young educators during their first teaching experiences. Almost ten years later, the director couldn’t help but remember those teachers’ unwavering dedication to their students as he drove past three public elementary schools on the way to his children’s private school. It was his personal decision to eschew public education for his kids that inspired Guggenheim to revisit the public school system and try to address its failings.

Each year since the 1940s, the United States government exceeds the previous year’s education spending. Many people see this as positive, but instead of improving, our public school system guarantees more failure each year. Currently in the this country, there are over 2,000 schools where 40% of the students do not graduate. Loc High School, a public school in South Central, Los Angeles, has seen 60,000 students since it opened its doors. 40,000 of them never made it to graduation. As Guggenheim eloquently asserts, our education system virtually assures the demise of a bright future. Waiting For ‘Superman’ illustrates the need for change now.

Where Guggenheim succeeds is in building clear emotion and drive into this documentary. He reaches out to the audience’s hearts by following the lives of five bright children—Anthony, Bianca, Daisy, Emily, and Francisco—who desperately want to learn. All these kids and their families want is opportunity. Guggenheim suggests that today, the only way to receive quality free education is to attend a prominent charter school. But as these families discover, things aren’t that simple: High-scoring charter schools have almost three times the number of applicants than they have student capacity. Often enrollment is left up to chance and determined by a lottery.

Waiting for ‘Superman’ doesn’t just examine the problems with the system, it points to communities that have solved them. Regardless of the bleak statistics and startling facts, candid interviews with the charismatic Geoffrey Canada, President and CEO of Harlem’s Children Zone, illustrate that what was once impossible is now within reach. 90% of Canada’s high school seniors go on to college. We see other hopeful examples of reform with nation-wide programs like Knowledge is Power(KIPP) and local ones like Green Dot in Los Angeles. The film also follows the turbulent struggle of Michelle Rhee, Washington D.C.’s radical chancellor who had to destroy and rebuild the D.C. public school system to finally see change in favor of our children.

The film builds incredible suspense as we sit with the five children and their families during the charter school lottery, each group holding on to their number in the hopes that a bouncing lottery ball with fall in their favor. Waiting for ‘Superman’ asks the hard questions: How could president after president promise education reform and fail? Do teachers’ unions help or cause problems? And when is the nation going to take action? The film challenges old thought patterns and leaves us with the possibility of a brand-new perspective. With An Inconvenient Truth, Guggenheim has proven himself a master when it comes to influencing social action. This time education is on the agenda. How many of us are willing to make a step in a new direction?

Waiting for ‘Superman’ opens nationwide September 17. For more information and to make a pledge to see the film visit waitingforsuperman.com.