Review of Waiting for "Superman" (2010) by Private U — 08 Dec 2016

I'm not sure how I missed this film given my wonkish tastes, but I heard the director, Davis Guggenheim discussing it on my fave new podcast by David Axelrod so thought it was time to catch up.

I'm a true believer in the power of education and passionate about encouraging all young people to do their best, find what they love, and reach as high as they can. This film made me weep - children waiting in a hall to see if they have, literally, won in a bizarre public lottery to get access to a school that can help them do that. Broken systems, failed experiments, generations of young people left on the scrap heap in what experts call "dropout factories". The film is not without it critics, and deservedly so, and the solutions posed have also been shown to be highly controversial, and patchy in their success. There are no easy answers.

But in the end, setting all that aside, these kids will grab you and then break your heart. You so want them to be get the chance to do the best they can. And not all of them will have their number come up. Absolute heartbreaker.