Friday, January 14, 2011

Waiting for Superman

Weston and I went to Bear's Tooth on Wednesday to see a movie I had wanted to see for a while, Waiting for Superman.  It was a documentary about the education system in America, specifically the public school system. I thought it was very well done, for what it was.  It didn't offer a lot of solutions (although it did show schools that DO work, such as KIPP schools and different charter schools), but it did highlight some of the problems that stand in the way of progress.  It followed a few children who were in failing schools and hoped to get into charter schools through the lottery system.  It was heartbreaking. I wanted to cry every time their name wasn't drawn. For some of those kids, not making it into the charter school will literally change their life. It will be the difference between making it to college and dropping out of school. It was really sad.

Anyway, I enjoyed the movie and really wish that there were an easy fix. A lot of the problems that stood in the way of solutions were why I left teaching (too much administration, decisions being made based on the sake of adults getting along, etc...). It also left me feeling very lucky that I have choices to make for Sawyer, and no matter what I choose, I can be assured that he will get a good education.  I have the ability to work with him at home and help him learn... not all parents can spend that much time with their children, or have the education to help past a certain point. It also made me worried about having to make all of these decisions for Sawyer. Ugh. Tough stuff. Luckily, the biggest decision I make for him everyday right now is what he is going to wear. :) Gives me plenty of time to think about the bigger decisions coming up.

Still knitting the sweater.  Haven't made as much progress as I was hoping to, but I have ambitious plans to catch up this weekend. Of course, I also came up with a fun idea of Valentine presents to send to various people, so I need to work on those too. Only a month away! :) Hope everyone had a good week...

1 comment:

Kelsey said...

Great post! Being a parent definitely adds a spin onto your views of education. It also makes me so thankful looking back at how much my parents had cared about my education. I guess I just had never really realized that they had put thought into it ;P So hoping for a Charter school for my boys.