Waiting for Superman: Documentary Portrays Teachers as the Solution and Problem in American Education

“Different factors that can affect students' performance” The documentary “Waiting for ‘Superman’ ” portrays teachers as both the solution and the problem in American education. The film notes the historic abuse and low pay that led to teacher unions and tenure, but argues that the nearly impenetrable job protections and uniform salary scales have hardened into detriments, assuring bad teachers earn too much and good teachers too little. Guggenheim, demonstrates throughout his documentary on the importance of good teachers, good schools, and how they have a tremendous impact on students and their education. Guggenheim also states, that we can make our children's futures brighter, if schools get more involved in the education of their students, rather than making decisions that are not in the best interest for our children's education. Schools need to focus on providing better education for children than any others, but unions are disastrous to a child's education. For example, in "Waiting for Superman" Davis Guggenheim, demonstrates how Unions continue to care more about what will happen to teachers instead of paying attention to the most important thing, which is good education and good teachers for the children. Unions should be helping our children and guiding them through their school years, but in fact, unions are only ensuring teachers careers no matter if they are good or bad teachers. Tenure ensures a teachers job for life, after being a teacher for three years, regardless of the fact if the teacher is good or bad, that would make teaching a much less attractive profession than it is, and as a consequence necessitate the hiring of more underqualified teachers. I largely agree with the documentary on the issue of teacher unions. Teacher unions represent a huge impediment to reform, and the unions protect the weakest teachers again and again. Any real effort to improve public education will have to include some shifting of power from the unions back to