Waiting for Superman

In recent decades, the American public education system has deteriorated alarmingly, and just as the country is crying out for highly educated workers, it is failing to churn out sufficient children who are ready for higher education. Davis Guggenheim, the director of \i An Inconvenient Truth\i0 , delves into this problem and calls for an effective approach to tackle it. He makes use of engaging propaganda techniques: shocking statistics and humorous animations chase one another across the screen, interspersed with clips from films and brief statements by experts. Among these are a passionate top educator, a resolute education reformer and Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Then Guggenheim has his say, providing a committed commentary on the big picture, followed by a number of vulnerable children who want to make something of themselves. But getting a place at a good public school is literally a lottery. Various experts testify that the unsatisfactory educational results are attributable to teachers hardly being called to account for their performance. Children from underprivileged backgrounds pay the price for a system that has too much job security for teachers, and this is then passed on to American society as a whole. Nevertheless, Guggenheim, who also directed Barack Obama's "infomercial" shown on the eve of the last presidential election, has an active message of hope for change.