Waiting For Superman Essay

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Many would agree that there is a problem with the education system in America. Waiting for Superman is a documentary written by Davis Guggenheim and Billy Kimball that presents a few of the issues in the education system. The writers traveled around the United States speaking to people involved in the education system about some of the big issues. One issue that the writers present, is how the tenure, which many times is required because of contracts with the teacher’s unions, causes a lot of difficulty for the schools. The idea is first presented with a story of a superintendent who had tried to fire many of his bad teachers. The writers interviewed Howard Fuller, a former superintendent in Milwaukee. One of the children in his schools was…show more content…
They make sure that the viewers understand that tenure started out as a very positive thing in the universities to protect professors from getting fired because of personal or political reasons. (36:18) In addition, the viewers see a video of teachers many years ago on strike because they were tired of being taken advantage of. To help protect the teachers from unfair treatment, such as women getting paid less than men, the teachers unions began to form. (37:44) The writers make sure that before they go on to show how these things have gone wrong, the viewer will first know that they started out as positive things. Inherently they are not bad ideas, but clearly something has gone…show more content…
In New York, they do not swap teachers, instead they are sent to a reassignment room where they wait for their hearing, sometimes for many years. The viewers see a video of many teachers sitting in a room reading newspapers, drinking coffee, or playing games all while they are still receiving pay. The average cost in New York for these teachers is one million dollars. (44:50) These examples help the viewer to see just how hard it is for the schools to deal with these bad teachers. The viewer sees how it is a totally inefficient way to handle the problem. The writers give a clear logical appeal as they show just how much time and money is being wasted on these bad

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