I finally saw Waiting for Superman, and now I get why so many people had a problem with it. I’ll grant that it tells compelling stories interlaced with some good data, and it also raises some important and troubling issues. I don’t think anyone would disagree that the problems it highlights are significant problems, or that there are bad teachers out there, or that the tensions between unions, teachers, administrators, and communities present real challenges, or that how we do or don’t pay teachers is an important part of the equation, etc.
However, the ultimate conclusions the film draws seem to be disconnected from the very data it provides. (And I won’t even address the whole Michelle Rhee fiasco.)
Many posts and articles have been written in response to the film (like this one), which I won’t rehash and can’t add much to. Instead, I’ll give my summary of the argument as I heard it:
We spend nearly four times as much on prisoners than it costs to send a student to private school, and there’s a strong correlation between school success and socio-economic status, therefore the main problems with education are unions and bad teachers, and charter schools will fix that.
If the second half of that sentence feels disconnected from the first, then you’re feeling what I felt as the credits rolled.
I taught English and creative writing at a public high school. I stay involved in education through my work with the Northern Virginia Writing Project. 
