We need more than Superman...

I had the opportunity to see 'Waiting for Superman' tonight as part of a screening sponsored by the the KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) Academy (http://www.kippjourneyacademy.org/) here in Columbus. First, if you are not familiar with KIPP, take a few minutes and read about them. Read about their commitment to making sure all children succeed - they truly are working to fulfill 'no child left behind' and fulfill it in a way that does not just move children forward but actually creates learning and engagement. Now, I have been reading about this movie for a few months - Time Magazine covered it and so did Oprah, so it was hard to miss the information about it. And, I was intrigued to see how Michelle Rhee was portrayed, given that she just resigned as Chancellor of the D.C. School District, in advance of what many believed was her removal by the new mayor. This film highlights many of the huge problems within our education system but it also leaves you with hope that those few bright spots may actually help light the path to our way forward. A way that makes a difference and turns the tide on what has become a failing system of non-education.

I am sure many of you will go see it so I won't tell the whole story, but here are some startling statistics (hopefully I captured them accurately - any error is on my part): in the state of PA, almost 60% of inmates are high school dropouts and the annual incarceration costs are $33K a year, with an average stay of 4 years. Now, tuition at a private school costs a little over $8K a year. When you do the math, you realize that investing in our youth can make an impact in more ways than one. There are more than 2,000 'dropout factories' across the U.S. - schools where less than 50% of students graduate; in a tracked school, only 62 out of 100 will graduate and only 31 of those 100 students are ready to go to college; in NY, they spend $100M annually in supervising and paying teachers who are have pending trials for terminable offenses and that leave averages THREE years. And that does not even touch the below average performing teachers - these are for things like sexual misconduct, shoving a student's head in a toilet and excessive absenteeism. As long as they show up for 7 hours ands sit in the 'rubber room', they get paid and accrue benefits. I mean, if there was ever a scenario for the phrase "WTF", this is it.

Now, I do not believe that teachers are the only problem - we have a broken system, one where there is a 23-page evaluation for a teacher that must be done by specific dates within specific time frames with each step being completed or the review process gets prolonged another year. We have federal, state AND local regulations that have bloated our system with bureaucracy and inefficiency beyond belief and we have parents who do not work with their kids and emphasize the importance of education. A system where the teachers' unions are THE largest donor to politic campaigns in this country - more than the Teamsters or any other group. So, when Michelle Rhee put together a proposal in D.C. to keep the current system and allow for moderate raises (average salaries around $54K) or an alternative proposal to reward teachers on their performance (with those salaries being around $122K), the teachers' union would NOT allow a vote.

But here is the most important thing that I walked away from this film with - it can be different, it can change and children, no matter where they live or where they come from, can learn and can excel in school. Remember that 31 out of 100 statistic earlier? Well, a charter school in that same area that does not track students but operates with the belief that all students can and should be ready for college? 96 out of 100 students graduate AND are ready to go to college.

It is going to take more than our government trying to fix a problem to find the solution - no matter which side of the aisle you are on, I think we can all agree on that. It is going to take communities standing up and demanding change, it is going to take parents, friends and family being active in their children's education and it is going to take kids understanding and valuing their education. Superman might be able to stop us from going off the cliff but it is going to take all of us to turn the bus around and getting it moving in the right direction.

This film really made me stop and think - and it made me want to tell the story because it is not just the kids who go to these schools who are impacted - it is our economy, our innovation and our future. I love what KIPP is doing and think their story is just one of the many out there that show we can make a difference when we are willing to change the system. Check out the film when it opens here - the Drexel will be showing it and take the opportunity to read to a child, donate books to a school or volunteer your time to make a difference, not just for one child but for our future.