Well in advance of its official release, the education film has attracted a level of attention that could make it one of the year鈥檚 most-watched documentaries鈥攁nd one of the most controversial among educators, some of whom question its depictions of the American school system and how to improve it.
Made by director Davis Guggenheim, who won a 2006 Academy Award for 鈥淎n Inconvenient Truth,鈥� and producer Lesley Chilcott, it follows five students and their families on a quest for a better education.
鈥淲aiting For 鈥楽uperman鈥欌�� has built up an extraordinary buzz since its world premiere in January at the Sundance Film Festival, where it was the first film to be picked up by a distributor, Paramount Vantage, and won the festival鈥檚 Audience Award for a documentary.
After months of special screenings that have stoked anticipation and sparked advance commentary, the film is scheduled to open in limited release in Los Angeles and New York City on Sept. 24 and expand to selected cities through Oct. 15.
Mr. Guggenheim is forthright in saying he wants the film to have an impact on the national discussion of education comparable to that of 鈥淎n Inconvenient Truth鈥� on the issue of climate change.
鈥淚鈥檝e had the experience of seeing a documentary changing the conversation around an issue鈥攇lobal warming,鈥� Mr. Guggenheim said in an interview last week, referring to his film chronicling former Vice President Al Gore鈥檚 campaign to raise public awareness about that subject.
鈥淚鈥檓 hoping that will happen with this,鈥� he added of his education documentary. 鈥淚t鈥檚 less about advocating a specific policy, but [more about] bringing people to the table.鈥�
But others see the film as cheerleading for charter schools and putting teachers鈥� unions in an unfairly negative light. Its descriptions of teacher tenure have been criticized by teacher bloggers and others, as has the fact the students featured are looking toward nontraditional public schools as the cure for their education ills.
鈥淭his is an emotional film, and it paints an urgency that we embrace, but what I鈥檓 concerned about is it doesn鈥檛 tell the real story about public schools or offer real long-term solutions,鈥� said Randi Weingarten, the president of the 1.5 million-member American Federation of Teachers, who appears in the film.
鈥淲aiting For 鈥楽uperman鈥欌�� is one of several documentary-style films on aspects of American schooling that are being released this year. Among the others are:
The film follows four families from the Bronx and Harlem sections of New York City who have entered their children in a lottery for slots in local charter schools. Education experts and politicians, including New York City 69传媒 Chancellor Joel I. Klein, appear in interviews to discuss challenges faced in public education. The movie, released last spring, is available via on-demand starting Sept. 1 through major cable and satellite providers.
Parent Vicki Abeles, inspired by her 12-year-old daughter鈥檚 diagnosis with a stress-induced condition, tries to understand what she calls the 鈥渞elentless pressure to perform鈥� faced by school-age children. The film also tries to discern whether the pressure is leading to higher rates of depression, dropping out of high school, and in some cases, suicide. The movie is due to be released Sept. 10 in theaters in New York City and Los Angeles.
This film looks at New York City鈥檚 so-called 鈥渞ubber rooms,鈥� where teachers who had been removed from the classroom and were awaiting a decision on their fates were sent to spend their days on administrative leave together. The school district and the United Federation of Teachers, the local teachers鈥� union, reached an agreement earlier this year that led to the rooms鈥� closing in June. Principal editing on the film was completed earlier this year, and it awaits a release date.
鈥擠akarai I. Aarons
Library Director Kathryn Dorko also contributed to this report.
鈥淚t leaves people with a sense of despair, rather than a sense of hope,鈥� she added.
Mr. Guggenheim rejects any notion that his film is anti-union or promotes charters as a silver bullet. He said he believes that unions are 鈥渆ssential,鈥� and that there are many great mainstream public schools.
School Lotteries
The students featured in 鈥淲aiting For 鈥楽uperman鈥欌�� live in the District of Columbia, New York City鈥檚 Bronx and Harlem sections, Los Angeles, and Redwood City, Calif., and come from different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. For each of the five students, the opportunity to get launched on a new, potentially better educational trajectory comes in the form of chance: Each student has entered a lottery to get a spot in a charter or other nontraditional school.
Many stars of the education world appear in the film discussing the challenges of the nation鈥檚 schools, including District of Columbia 69传媒 Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee and Geoffrey Canada, the founder of the Harlem Children鈥檚 Zone, the model for President Barack Obama鈥檚 Promise Neighborhoods initiative.
To Mr. Guggenheim, the film shows not only the pitfalls of American public education, but also its promise.
鈥淚t affects everyone, not just the kids on the other side of the tracks,鈥� he said of the state of the education system. Its failings are 鈥渘ot only morally wrong, but economically unsustainable,鈥� he said.
鈥淚 also want people to know there is a glimmer of hope,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here are people now who have cracked the code鈥攏ot that the formula for success is easy. It is possible to go into even the toughest neighborhoods and move the needle and give kids a great education.鈥�
John I. Wilson, the executive director of the 3.2 million-member National Education Association, said that 鈥渨hen you give the impression that charter schools are the panacea for allowing kids to escape from public schools, I think that鈥檚 unfair.鈥�
Mr. Wilson said he was 鈥渋nspired,鈥� though, by the movie鈥檚 potential as a call to arms for people to help make schools better for all children. 鈥淚t is time to stop waiting for someone else to do it,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here is not going to be a Superman for us in public schools. We are who we have been waiting for.鈥�
Social-Action Blitz
The buzz that 鈥淲aiting For 鈥楽uperman鈥欌�� has generated in education and mainstream circles is no accident. Participant Media, a film and entertainment company which financed and produced the film with Mr. Guggenheim and Ms. Chilcott, has launched a so that viewers have a tangible way to become personally and politically engaged.
鈥淲e offer resources and tools that allow people to engage at whatever level they鈥檙e comfortable, from simply getting information about the issue, to personal actions such as volunteering, donating, and mentoring, to advocating for political and policy changes,鈥� said Jim Berk, the chief executive officer of Participant Media, based in Beverly Hills, Calif. As of last week, more than 45,000 people had taken an to see the film, which has been promoted using social-media networks such as Twitter and Facebook and through text-message alerts to those who signed up for updates on the film鈥檚 release.
Companies such as Office Depot and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and organizations like Donors Choose and First Book, are donating products and services to education-related causes with each milestone reached. The online pledge meter鈥檚 top goal is 250,000 pledges.
Some education advocates hope to use the visibility the film brings to education issues to emphasize their own messages.
The Washington-based National Alliance for Public Charter 69传媒 and Education Reform Now, in New York City, are teaming up to build a parallel campaign called 鈥淲e Are Superman.鈥�
In addition to building a website to house their efforts, the two groups are mobilizing teams of education activists in several cities to arm people with information on how they can improve education in their communities.
The Washington-based Center for Education Reform, a leading proponent of charters and other forms of school choice, is also launching an education effort tied to the film, with plans to release a guide explaining how to get involved.
How Much Impact?
Education activists and analysts are intrigued鈥攁nd, in some cases, skeptical鈥攁bout the film鈥檚 potential for engaging a wider public in school issues.
Jonathan Schorr, a San Francisco-based partner of the New69传媒 Venture Fund, said the documentary鈥檚 approach will draw people into the education reform conversation in a way a seminar wouldn鈥檛.
鈥溾�楢n Inconvenient Truth鈥� was an achievement in itself because climate change is really hard to touch and feel,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he experience of kids who are denied a good educational option is something anybody who has been a parent, or anyone who has gone to school, can directly relate to. I think this [film] will get a much wider viewership.鈥�
Jeanne Allen, the president of the Center for Education Reform, agreed. 鈥淚 think it has the huge potential to communicate with a huge crop of people who don鈥檛 know there鈥檚 an issue or problem,鈥� she said.
Others, however, are not so convinced the film, and others on education due to be released this year, will make a big impact.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 naive to imagine a single movie or book is going to change permanently what the public is concerned about or how it thinks about an issue,鈥� said Frederick M. Hess, the director of education policy studies for the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute.
鈥淧eople are busy. They have jobs and kids,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey are supposed to be worried about national security and highway safety and Internet stalkers and any number of things. Even if they walk out of the movie fired up, there鈥檚 lots of other causes and demands.鈥�
Any lasting effects of 鈥淲aiting For 鈥楽uperman鈥欌�� will be determined by the success of the engagement activities connected to it, said Mr. Hess, who has been part of the running in the blog he writes for Education Week鈥檚 website. 鈥淲hat happens next is what matters. Is there a strategy to linking those people into the issue in an ongoing way?鈥�
As for Mr. Guggenheim, he sought last week to dispel perceptions that he is claiming to have a few clear remedies for troubled schools, even as he acknowledged his desire to stir others to action.
鈥淚鈥檓 very careful not to present myself as an expert,鈥� he said. 鈥淢y point of view is as an observer and a parent who has kids. I don鈥檛 want to come off as someone who himself offers answers.鈥�
鈥淚 want people to start to care about other people鈥檚 children and fight for other people鈥檚 children as much as they fight for their own,鈥� he said.
