In the past few years, two documentary films have been released that paint contrasting portraits of the state of American education. In Davis Guggenheim’s Waiting for Superman, low-income, prominently minority students long for educational opportunity, but are trapped in failing schools where teachers unions serve as a bulwark to reform and accountability. The solution: the style of education reform endorsed by George W. Bush that emphasizes greater flexibility in the hiring and firing of teachers, longer hours and public school choice particularly with charter schools. The second film, Race to Nowhere, not so subtly alludes to Obama’s marquee educational policy. Upper middle class students struggle with the high stakes of standardized testing and the college admission process, pressure that drives students to physical illness and even suicide. The solution: less emphasis on the sort of high stakes tests and data driven reforms that Waiting for Superman so passionately advocates. Continue reading →