Edited by: Karl Weber
Published by: Participant Media (2010)
As a companion to the documentary, Waiting for Superman, this book discusses public education from the filmmakers’ perspective, policy makers, officials, administrators, and teachers as well as parents view of the state of education now and what should be fixed in the system. There were suggestions that would never work in public education while other structures have worked in some communities (and states) but would never work in others. The end of the book has resources for an average citizen to become involved in the community.
As a non-teacher, I was able to read this objectively. However, the first half which focused on non-educators’ approach to rehabilitating the educational system was absolutely absurd. I found it hard to take the filmmakers seriously. As for the rest of the book’s contributors, some chapters were insightful while others were extremely hard to get through. If anything, I was inspired to actively pursue working as a workshop instructor or in higher education but in public education. As for the book, interesting read but definitely not something I would have picked up on my own. Thank goodness for book club!
