Waiting for Superman

America’s public education system needs reform. The film Waiting for Superman, directed by Davis Guggenheim, discusses how education can drastically affect the lifes of children in low income neighborhoods. However because of lack of adequate funding, these children are not receiving the education needed to excel.

I used to volunteer with a school that was located in a low income neighborhood. Classes were overcrowded, the building was in disrepair and the majority of the children received federally subsidized meals. In schools like these how are children able to learn? At a school that reflects the poverty and brokenness of the homes they come from, it is no wonder that children that who attend schools in low income neighborhoods have no motivation to pursue education. The schools reinforce the idea that there is no way out of the poverty cycle.

We need reform. However the answer to this growing issue may be coming. President Obama’s Blueprint for Reform of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act pushes to ensure that there would be equal funding for schools. This is the change we need.

The Accessibility of Education

Education and its accessibility are the underlying themes in Professor X’s essay, “In the Basement of the Ivory Tower”. In his essay Professor X discusses his carrier as a college professor and the varying abilities of his students. He has students who are only pursuing a college degree to advance in their carrier and even some students whose only goal is to receive a certain number of required credits to ability for a carrier in law enforcement. While many vocations in today’s society require some sort of higher education, Professor X states that not all people are cut out to attend college. He uses the example of a student in his class named Ms. L. Ms. L struggled throughout Professor X’s entire course. She had never used the internet, was unable to put a clear sentence together and did not have the ability to grasp the concepts needed to write her assignments. While Professor X would have loved to pass Ms. L out of compassion, he had to fail her in the course. Ms. L was a smart women, however she was simply not fit to take a college level course. Like many Americans, she struggled to find work in a society that so highly values education. The truth of the matter is, not everyone is suited for college. Their age, maturity, comprehension level and their former education all play huge roles in their ability to achieve success in higher academia.