Tow #29: Waiting for Superman part 2

            Waiting For Superman, a documentary by director Davis Guggenheim and producer Lesley Chilcott, exposes the major flaws of the United States public education system and expresses a need for reform. It follows a number of ambitious young children, both less- fortunate and well off, as they journey through the public school system and eventually apply for acceptance at charter schools. One of the major claims that is set forth by Waiting For Superman is that the difficulty of firing a teacher from a position in the public school system is extremely damaging for the good of the children at stake. Based on the information provided in the film and outside testimony, I am inclined to strongly agree with this claim.

            The information provided in this film informs the viewer that in many districts and states of America, there is a stipulation in the contract of public school teachers that makes it very difficult to fire them after they have been employed at any given district for a certain amount of time. The statistic that was used to back this statement was that in Illinois, while 1 in 97 attorneys loose their law licenses each year, only 1 in 2500 teachers loose their teaching credentials. The difficulty of firing teachers creates a situation known as the “lemon dance”, where each year school districts shift around teachers that are openly known to be incompetent or flat out bad. This creates a situation where districts keep teachers that they know are not benefitting the students simply on a legal formality. The students that fall into the hands of such teachers fall several grade levels behind their counterparts with teachers that are effectively covering all of the curriculum material. When these students are then moved on to the next grade and integrated with their peers, they find themselves struggling and becoming discouraged with the education system. For a system that will enable students to succeed, the contractual obstacles that stand in the way of firing truly bad teachers must be changed.