Pledge to See Doc "Waiting for Superman" & they will Donate $5

[RamboLiberal]

To a school project that you choose from website donorschoose.org. I did last week & got my donate code today via email which I used to donate $5 to a local PA school.

Sign up at this site: http://www.waitingforsuperman.com/?utm_source=Email%28thankyou%29&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=donorschoose5&utm_campaign=Email

For a nation that proudly declared it would leave no child behind, America continues to do so at alarming rates. Despite increased spending and politicians’ promises, our buckling public-education system, once the best in the world, routinely forsakes the education of millions of children.

Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim reminds us that education “statistics” have names: Anthony, Francisco, Bianca, Daisy, and Emily, whose stories make up the engrossing foundation of WAITING FOR SUPERMAN. As he follows a handful of promising kids through a system that inhibits, rather than encourages, academic growth, Guggenheim undertakes an exhaustive review of public education, surveying “drop-out factories” and “academic sinkholes,” methodically dissecting the system and its seemingly intractable problems.

However, embracing the belief that good teachers make good schools, and ultimately questioning the role of unions in maintaining the status quo, Guggenheim offers hope by exploring innovative approaches taken by education reformers and charter schools that have—in reshaping the culture—refused to leave their students behind.

http://sundance.bside.com/2010/films/waitingforsuperman_sundance2010

[madfloridian]

1. That's a pro-charter movement documentary.

It is anti-public school. It was introduced at Sundance by Bill Gates.

Hate to see it pushed here. It is anti-public school propaganda.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/6403

[RamboLiberal]

2. The guy who made the Al Gore movie made it

And it won at Sundance. So I'll wait to see the film. So DU'ers aren't smart enough to watch & debate this as an issue? Surprised that Bill Gates is now the enemy. Or Geoffrey Canada? We have to do something to get many of our inner city schools turned around.

And what the hell is the harm of a teacher getting a $5 donation? You just have to pledge & you don't even have to show up to see the film.

BTW it got a good review at Huffington Post.

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After seeing the film, I found myself pondering many questions about my own childhood, not only my own failures and successes but also the failures and successes of the school system itself, both public and private. I look back on the early years of my education, or lack thereof, and I wonder if I would have paid less attention to the kids and more attention to the teachers had Waiting for Superman been made before I entered the school system.

It feels to me the makers of Waiting for Superman are about to make a very powerful splash. Names like Geoffrey Canada and Michelle Rhee will become known to an even wider audience in New York and Los Angeles when this film premieres on September 24th and even more so nationwide when it opens in October. And this splash will not only be felt in the world of education, including the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Teachers Association (NEA), but in the world itself. A splash that may initially seem disturbing, but will hopefully be refreshing because of the inevitable life-changes that will no doubt come about because it was made.

I am sure, as Dugan so eloquently said, I was laughing where I should have been listening, and listening where I should have been laughing, but hopefully others growing up today will be more enlightened as to what's at stake when going through the school system. And I'm sure, after seeing this film, many will be reminded of the importance of an education as well as the absolute right to one. A right that too many people in this country are simply denied.

I am certainly no film critic, but I can tell you when a film is worth your time. 'Waiting for Superman" is worth your time. Future kids might not laugh when they should listen, and because of this film, they might actually have schools worth going to because enough people really cared to make a difference.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jimmy-demers/waiting-for-superman_b_680886.html

[madfloridian]

3. Bill Gates power is great. He is getting his way with schools.

Teachers have no money to counter the propaganda.

School "reform" is loved by the right wing and also by our party leaders. So I guess they win,don't they.

If you think turning schools over to the likes of Bill Gates will solve our problems, then you will love what Obama and Duncan are doing.

[Hannah Bell]

4. Thanks for the free advertising for union-busting & public school privatization.