I have an affinity for documentary films. While realizing that often they can be one-sided, they are still damned interesting in the presentation of their subject matter.
The latest one I have viewed is 'Waiting for 'Superman'". If you have not seen it, I highly recommend it. If you live here in Michigan, watch it and think about the Governor's proposed budget cuts to education. Ask yourself where are the budget cuts in the corrections system.
A very interesting fact in the movie is that it would be cheaper to send a child through thirteen years of private school than it would be keep an inmate in jail for four years.
The documentary also points out the flaws with teacher tenure, one of my biggest peeves going way back to my high school years. In all fairness, tenure is not just a problem with non-performing teachers, but unions of all kinds protect non-performing workers. Remember that in one of my former lives I was a union president and saw it up-close.
No successful civilization can prosper without a sound education. But if we continue to decline in what we teach and demand from our students, we will have more and more of them roaming the streets in gangs and eventually ending up in prison. Is that where we want our tax dollars to go?
I cried for the children in the movie who have to enter lotteries to get out of their local school and into one that offers them a chance at a better future and standard of living.
Watch the documentary.
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