schools. Even during the MSNBC town hall today, there were teachers who say I don't care about tenure. LEGEND: This is a civil rights issue. We have to go to break. Waiting for Superman Documentary Analysis - Trinity "[30] Lastly, Ayers writes that "schools are more segregated today than before Brown v. Board of Education in 1954," and thus criticized the film for not mentioning that "black and brown students are being suspended, expelled, searched, and criminalized. WEINGARTEN: Look, what the unions actually talked about was as part of lifting the cap, as part of lifting the cap, they didn't fight against lifting the cap -- LEGEND: Yes, they did. Like around here, I mean, I want my kids to have better than what I had. You've done an amazing job there in Harlem. The union leaderships could take this on as a platform and say this is something we're going to commit to and give our membership behind this so we can show progress in taking on these issues. /ExtGState << All you have to do is listen to people in Washington about it. Ravitch says that a study by Stanford University economist Margaret Raymond of 5000 charter schools found that only 17% are superior in math test performance to a matched public school, and many perform badly, casting doubt on the film's claim that privately managed charter schools are the solution to bad public schools. GUGGENHEIM: Those parents don't care. Why is that? Waiting for Superman on iTunes "[7] On Metacritic it has a score of 81% based on reviews from 31 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". David Guggenheims Waiting for Superman looks at how the American public school system is failing its students and displays how reformers have attempted to But, Mondello In this incredible movie, "Waiting For Superman," Davis Guggenheim introduces to us some of the heroic parents who struggle to provide a better future for their children. /T1_0 24 0 R And what the teachers wanted in Washington were the tools and conditions for them to do their jobs. In fact you come off quite badly. /Rotate 0 WEINGARTEN: Let me -- SCARBOROUGH: If it wasn't about education, I mean, what was it about? KENNY: Now studying Shakespeare, passing the regions in physics, passing the regions in chemistry, 100 percent in U.S. history across the board, all of them are going to go to college. During its opening weekend in New York City and Los Angeles, the film grossed $141,000 in four theaters, averaging $35,250 per theater. The only disagreement that I think our union has had in terms of the way in which things have gone, is that our folks have desperately wanted to have a voice in how to do reform. First, I loved that town hall today. GUGGENHEIM: The dream of making a movie like this is conversations just like this, the fact that you and NBC and Viacom and Paramount and Get School bring a movie to the table and let people in this room have a real conversation about to fix our schools is essential. Come on out. And that still scared the hell out of the Washington union. We had at least 40 of us in one classroom and the teacher refused to teach. This is why. documentary BRZEZINSKI: And the reaction that we saw just moments ago was the same, these are people who know. BRZEZINSKI: Why not inspire them with pay? I'm joking. BRZEZINSKI: How do we get to what you're saying, though? BEGIN VIDEO CLIP: NAKIA: I grew up in the public school system. The issue is, and we saw it and heard it in the town hall today a lot, we need to have instruments like they do in every other business to effectively judge and assess teachers. SCARBOROUGH: Because we've been up to Harlem, we've seen what's happening up there. BRZEZINSKI: Okay. You don't come off well in this movie. That's so important to help level the playing field for kids who may be disadvantaged. This is our country. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think she can do it? "[13] Variety characterized the film's production quality as "deserving every superlative" and felt that "the film is never less than buoyant, thanks largely to the dedicated and effective teachers on whom Guggenheim focuses. /Font << UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Daisys path to medical school begins with eighth grade algebra which she'll need to take when she moves up to Stevenson Middle School. When you put a face on this issue, as we talk about the details of it, that's the thing I keep saying to myself, let's not forget as we argue and discuss and learn about this, let's not forget the kids. DAISYS GATHER: Yes. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or in-store pick-up That's amazing. Stevenson feeds into Roosevelt, one of the worst-performing schools in Los Angeles. A good education, therefore, is not ruled out by poverty, uneducated parents or crime and drug-infested neighborhoods. I don't care what I have to do, I don't care how many jobs I have to obtain but she will go to college. WEINGARTEN: John. SCARBOROUGH: All right, Davis, Davis, you said at the beginning you didn't want to get involved in this project. BRZEZINSKI: Is there a possibility? [8], Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4 and wrote, "What struck me most of all was Geoffrey Canada's confidence that a charter school run on his model can make virtually any first-grader a high school graduate who's accepted to college. 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. Waiting for 'Superman And that means get involved. Why were you frightened to send her to school. The film portrays the deep sadness that Bianca and her mother feel when Bianca is not accepted into the charter school as the two embrace one another at the end and Nakia dries her daughters tears (Guggenheim 1:37:35). But as long as we try to pretend that all teachers are the same, and that there are not great teachers and not so great teachers, then we are never going to be able to solve the problems. It is must-see TV, from 9:00 to 11:00 Eastern Time right here on MSNBC. 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. Seventy-eight percent of them, this is not our survey, this was their survey, said a union was absolutely essential to them to try and stop school politics or principal abuses. Waiting for Superman is a documentary which investigates the different ways in which education is failing students and the development of the American public >> Teachers in this country want to make a difference in the lives of kids. WEINGARTEN: I think look, again, we had a moment in time where we actually got to an agreement. SCARBOROUGH: Davis, let's begin with you. If Anthony goes to Souza, odds are he'll enter high school three to five grade levels behind. Your last really big film was "Inconvenient Truth." SCARBOROUGH: Okay. Educational reception and allegations of inaccuracy. SCARBOROUGH: Right. WebSynopsis. >> I think we all need to take more responsibility. (soundbite of film, "big george foreman: the miraculous story of the once and future heavyweight champion of the world") KHRIS DAVIS: (As George Foreman) Last time they saw me, I looked like Superman. DAVIS GUGGENHEIM: No. Where does the union take some responsibility in this? /GS1 17 0 R As young as Bianca is, she too displays this look of defeat as her name is not called (Guggenheim 1:32:56). Waiting for Superman BRZEZINSKI: It was still painful. How do you explain that to a child? 6 0 obj But we need to have real evaluation systems, which is what the union has been focused on, so that teachers are really judged fairly. Explain to me how that is good for children. We'll be right back. We can't wait and talk about this another seven, eight, ten years. It was about a whole range of other issues. These students range in And I was hurt. Didn't get an answer on that. The answer is no. SCARBOROUGH: All right. Waiting for "Superman" premiered in the US on September 24, 2010, in theaters in New York and Los Angeles, with a rolling wider release that began on October 1, 2010. American schools face frequent budget cuts, but its not all about the money. I want to just ask Randi, you've been taking pot shots from everybody here on stage, including us at times. NAKIA: Shes 7 now. We have to fix this thing and it means the adults have to take leadership. This is a documentary about our failing education system and the tears we saw in this room are about our children and how our schools are leaving them behind. We as a country have to get together and have a conversation like this and say how do we let every kid win? I knew -- as Davis said, I knew what was going to happen before she knew what was going to happen. And the audience in this room just finished watching an extraordinary powerful film called "Waiting For Superman" which opened just a few days ago. DEBORAH KENNY, HARLEM VILLAGE ACADEMY: Well its what we're doing and a lot of the schools around the country are doing when they're given the freedom, which is what the charter gives you to accomplish these results. That's not the case with all charter schools across America. We applaud everybody for joining us on this stage. MICHELLE RHEE, CHANCELLOR, D.C. PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Well, I think you should probably ask the union folks that question. Davis Guggenheims Documentary, Waiting for Superman explores the corrupt American School system. Obviously at the end most people watching this movie teared up. /GS0 18 0 R /Resources << The film illustrates the problem of how American public schools are failing children, as it explicitly describes many public schools as drop-out factories, in which over 40% of students do not graduate on time. Why did you pick this topic? /Properties << There was, as Geoff said, a sense that failure was tolerable, as opposed to a focus on success. All we're going to do is pay good teachers more money. They were the right things for kids but they made the adults incredibly uncomfortable. By Stephen Holden. /CropBox [ 0 0 595.27600 841.89000 ] Waiting for Superman: Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim reminds us that education statistics have names: Anthony, Francisco, Bianca, Daisy, and Emily, whose And we need to have good evaluation systems. This is about the kids in the movie, and this is about how those of us on this stage help kids. [17] The Wall Street Journal's William McGurn praised the film in an op-ed piece, calling it a "stunning liberal expos of a system that consigns American children who most need a decent education to our most destructive public schools. I know they are. It's about figuring out what works in charter schools and exporting that across America. More importantly than our union, the new mayor is committed to it. Broadcast: Saturday, September 25, 2010. We're seeing all this great success in Harlem, there were forces that were trying to make sure that that couldn't be replicated on a larger scale. /Resources << NAKIA: The schools in my area don't measure up as far as the reading is concerned, the math is concerned. LEGEND: Well, it's been quite a learning experience because I get to meet great educators. And we're going to figure out, we're going to get people together here. So let me say, because I get told a lot that Im teacher bashing. SCARBOROUGH: First and foremost -- LEGEND: If we care about justice, if we care about equality in this country, we have to care about fixing education. People couldn't believe you could do it. Thank you for joining us. GUGGENHEIM: The issue is not just lousy teachers. Through the stories of five children who wanted to attend a charter school, the film shows how one child was accepted and another child was accepted from the wait list while three children were not accepted at all. John leads the show me campaign which is dedicated to raising awareness and highlighting successful schools. MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Take a look at some of the reactions from just a few minutes ago as people watched this movie. DAISY: Isnt that when people play and they win money. You talked about evaluations like every other business. I was really tired. I want to be a doctor and I want to be a veterinarian. >> I went up there, Jeff Zucker pushed me to go up there one day. So there are teachers who are having this debate within the spectrum of your organization. It seems to me, Davis, that you done get -- teachers don't get evaluated like every other business. And while our guests enter the stage, let's show you a little clip of the movie, because "Waiting For Superman" is about our system, but what really gets to you in this movie is the individual stories of each child. And the next morning Im driving my kids in the minivan to school and they go to a great private school in Los Angeles. But when I saw you after the film, and I would -- being macho, hey, Davis, how you doing, man? I said what I if I made a different kind of movie from a parents' point of view? LEGEND: Yes. >> Waiting For Superman has helped launch a movement to achieve a real and lasting change through the compelling stories of the struggles students, families, >> Is there any give here? /Count 5 RHEE: You wake up every morning and you know that 46,000 kids are counting on you. SCARBOROUGH: What we hear, Randi, morning after morning after morning from progressives, from conservatives, from Republicans, from Democrats, from independents, seems to be the same thing. Have your mom and dad told you about the lottery? Don't make -- Im tired, man, I wake up at 3:30 in the morning. Having said that, we have all done too much about focusing on bad teachers. >> The documentary follows 1h 51m. They said, look, this work is hard. Wouldn't that have been better? I know you have to say your side of this and this is hard for all of us. /ArtBox [ 0 0 595.27600 841.89000 ] National Assessment of Educational Progress, Bill Gates Goes to Sundance, Offers an Education, "How Davis Guggenheim's Documentary 'Waiting for "Superman"' Will Further Fuel the Education Debate -- New York Magazine - Nymag", "Waiting for Superman Movie Reviews, Pictures", "How did 'Waiting for 'Superman's' ' Davis Guggenheim become the right wing's favorite liberal filmmaker? Randi said something that was fascinating. GUGGENHEIM: Those kids can't learn. CANADA: There are two things. "[11] Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly gave the film an A, calling it "powerful, passionate, and potentially revolution-inducing. You said OK we're not going to penalize bad teachers. & CEO, HARLEM CHILDRENS ZONE: I think the real important issue for us to face as Americans is if we don't fix this, we will not remain a great country. SCARBOROUGH: Michelle, let me ask you this. Because I know he's easily influenced to do things he shouldn't do. DAISYS FATHER: Come on, Daisy, cross your fingers. /GS0 18 0 R So it's important to understand how this is locked down here in D.C. and in New York. The filmmakers made sure to film how Nakia becomes increasingly more anxious and concerned as time passes during the lottery, but fewer spots become available and her daughters name has not been called (Guggenheim 1:32:49). SCARBOROUGH: Welcome back to our education nation special on "Waiting For Superman." /Rotate 0 Because politically, these -- the things that we were doing, closing down schools, firing teachers, moving principals, those were not politically popular things to do. BRZEZINSKI: When we come back, we'll talk more about that. Some of us have spent our lives working on behalf of children and teachers who teach children. This isn't some Hollywood drama or a romance flick. 10 0 obj We've been talking about the teacher town hall hosted by Brian Williams earlier today. I am the first one to say, that charter schools are not the answer. We just don't want lousy teachers to be able to keep their jobs and kids not get an education. >> That's when we come back as we dive into the issues presented in "Waiting For Superman." That is the problem. I know, but you didn't have enough money. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vergosa, Andrew. If you look at what the Kipp schools have done or the uncommon schools, they've been able to replicate this model over and over. /Properties << I mean, from my perspective, it really seemed like what was scary to people was this idea of beginning to differentiate folks. Webwaiting for superman movie transcript+filetype:ppt+filetype:pdf. The video explores several of the problems within the system, and tells the personal stories of several families and communities who have been impacted and disadvantaged by the broken education system. In a documentary called Waiting for Superman, contemporary education issues that the U.S. has been facing for several decades are addressed. }>=Uw2cS=V. I9kZJw^EAOd j]Y[wl-e06E#/mlyTbE9f}@8 a/ ^} >> >> SCARBOROUGH: We really had. No one wants lousy teachers. GEOFFREY CANADA, PRES. endobj What happened there? We increased attendance rates. /Type /Pages Why? Michelle and I love great teachers. GUGGENHEIM: Absolutely. PG. /Type /Catalog Coming up, right after we're finished here, MSNBC will re-air the two-hour town hall. LEGEND: Who your state senator is. It is impossible and we can fix it and I think that's what this movie gets to. John, tell us how you got involved in this. WebTRANSCRIPT: WAITING FOR SUPERMAN PANEL DISCUSSION WITH: NBC'S JOE SCARBOROUGH; NBC'S MIKA BRZEZINSKI;DAVIS GUGGENHEIM, DIRECTOR, Though money doubled, reading and math scores have flat-lined. LEGEND: My last thing I would say, we have to realize that these kids are our kids. GUGGENHEIM: And fight for these kids. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. 8 0 obj Waiting for 'Superman WEINGARTEN: We need to help them do that for all of our kids. DAISY: I want to go to a medical college or a veterinarian college because I really want to become a surgeon. SCARBOROUGH: Why would you spend a million dollars to defeat a mayor? So they were trying to impose a cap on the number of charter schools that could be had in New York. 10 Video Games That Need a Live Action Adaptation, 2023's Most Anticipated Sequels, Prequels, and Spin-offs. BRZEZINSKI: Ill tell you right now, Randi, I want to know after the break why we can't use pay to inspire teachers. NAKIA: The public schools in my neighborhood don't add up to what I want from her. Most of them. I went up to a school up there. We're feeling a real sense of commitment. It's the school that Deborah Kenny runs. The film recognizes how the American public plays an important role in helping to accomplish the reform goal of making American public schools great. 1. This documentary follows a handful of promising kids through a system that inhibits, rather than encourages, academic growth, and undertakes an exhaustive review of public education, surveying "drop-out factories" and "academic sinkholes," methodically dissecting the system and its seemingly intractable There are really, really bad charter schools across America. Geoffrey, let me ask you this question. Were here to talk about the movie, to talk about education. We decreased violent crimes that were happening in the schools. We all have to move off self-interest. This film follows five children and documents them to see what their lives and schools are like. stream I think that teachers are not the problem, they are the solution to the problems that we face. The film shows how Geoffrey Canadas solution to this problem was to create charter schools that would give children and their parents more options within the public school system and would hopefully raise academic performance, decrease dropout rates, andincrease the number of students who attend college. Waiting for Superman/Transcript - The Altered Adventure /T1_1 24 0 R (END VIDEO CLIP) BRZEZINSKI: And there are kids that don't make it. /Pages 1 0 R BRZEZINSKI: Why didn't they add up?