Davis Guggenheim puts a human face on an unwieldy, seemingly unsolvable problem — the wretched state of America’s public schools — in his latest documentary, “Waiting for ‘Superman.’ ”
The director of the Academy Award-winning “An Inconvenient Truth” naturally has plenty of statistics to back up his points: state-by-state deficiency levels in math and reading, the cost of incarcerating a prisoner versus sending a kid to 12 years of private school, the number of bad teachers who lose their jobs each year (it’s low, given the protections they enjoy under tenure).
All staggering stuff — especially depressing if you’re the parent of a young child. But Guggenheim offers some glimmers of hope in the alternative and charter schools cropping up across the country, and in the educators who dare to take a fresh approach.
There’s also suspense and heartbreaking human drama as he follows five kids — four of whom live in impoverished areas — waiting to find out whether they’ve won the lottery to nab a rare opening in these types of institutions.
The real drama comes at the end, as we watch and wait along with the film’s five young stars to find out the results of lotteries that could land them coveted spots in alternative schools. Even if you don’t have kids of your own, you’ll find it hard not to get sucked in emotionally; this is just one example of how Guggenheim so adeptly takes a potentially dry topic and makes is cinematic.
Those outcomes — and the film as a whole — won’t even come close to solving all the socio-economic and educational problems raised here. But they’re a start.
