Q6) The film has definite realist tones that can be perceived as negative. If change is to occur, we must find hope. What hope for a better future do you find in the film?

In "Waiting For Superman" the film shows many high authority people such as presidents trying to improve the education system but nothing seems to be working. They either don't give enough money to the education program or they are backing out because it is too much work because the system is really that bad. It is extremely important that people don't lose hope anywhere including parents, their kids, the teachers, and so on. I think one of the only possible way to give education a better future is to start over. Yes it would be very difficult and expensive but with how much the nation is in debt now I don't think it should really matter at this point. I was fortunate enough in my education that I didn't have to go through what some of the children in the film went through. It was very heartbreaking to see some of them not get into the better schools in the lottery drawing. It was impossible to not feel sorry for them. But like everyone else, if they don't lose hope they can find a way to get through the struggles of a good education.

Q5) After watching the film and our class discussions about it, what have you learned about the concept of TENURE? What didn’t you know prior? What are your thoughts about it now? Is it a viable way to retain good teachers? What are the problems with tenure as you see it? Be sure to address how you would measure quality/poor teaching in your answer.

Before taking this class I honestly had no clue what "tenure" meant. Now that I've watched "Waiting For Superman" and from class lectures I have learned that tenure is basically a way for a teacher to have their job secured. It is not impossible to fire a tenured teacher but it is extremely difficult to do so. It would also require a long process that goes through court. I'm not really sure that I like the process of tenure because just because a teacher has been teaching for a long time doesn't mean they are extremely good at it. I do not think it is a worthwhile way to retain teachers because as I previously said, it doesn't guarantee that they are good. Tenure could be made good if it was measured possibly by students taking a survey where the teachers don't know what is on it because if they do then they will purposely do better in those areas. As I see tenure, I think a problem with it is that once teachers know they have a secure position then they may tend to slack off and not try as hard to give the children the proper education that they need to succeed in life.

Q4) "Why the United States Is Destroying Its Education System" Article

I think this article was very powerful in showing how the US education system is falling apart.
The author quotes a teacher that says that a lot of what they are teaching is fake and will never be used in the real world. This is true, I remember in a lecture that we had one class that we agreed that there would be stuff we would never use again and it's a problem that teachers even tell their students this because it just makes them not try as hard to master the material.

Second, the author brings up how Charter school systems are not concerned with education. I agree with this statement because in the movie "Waiting For Superman" so many people wanted to get into a charter school because the students take a different curriculum and may not get all the necessary classes they need for college. These schools were different from public schools and some families had a only a 1 in 5 chance of getting into one.

Finally, I think the author is correct when they talk about getting rid of professional teachers that actually do a good job and put in less-experienced teachers just because they cost less money. It is a shame that good teachers are the ones that end up leaving due to costs. This is why our education system is crumbling. Teachers don't try as hard, and as seen in "Waiting For Superman" teachers that are tenured have almost nothing to lose because it's extremely difficult to fire a tenured teacher.

Q2) Respond (summarize and react) to both a) the most impacting personal story and b) the most impacting fact/statistic presented thus far in the film.

Personally I think that Daisy had the most impacting story in the film "Waiting For Superman" because of the future that lies ahead of her. She knows almost exactly what she wants to do when she grows up and even applies to college in elementary school but the hurdles ahead of her are large. The high school she has to go to has only every 3 of 100 students graduating with all the required classes to attend a 4 year college. It makes me feel bad for Daisy because not all of it is in her control. She lives in an area with bad schools but she can't control that. 

A statistic that I think is very impacting are the reading scores across the nation. Most states have only between 20-35% of students proficient in reading and Washington DC is the lowest. I think it's ironic that the capital of the USA has the worst schools because you would think they would be the most elite but it's the exact opposite. Either way these statistics show that education all over the nation is lacking in many areas and has many problems that need to be fixed but it's just not that easy.