Don’t mislead us, Superman

I am no longer waiting for “Superman.” I saw the longanticipated oversimplification (it is, after all, a movie) of the nation’s public education problems at a screening hosted last evening by Austin ISD.

As you may have heard by now, “Waiting for Superman” is partly a cruel drama endured by several families who believe their children’s futures rest on the luck of the draw – their ability to win longshot lotteries for admission to highquality charter schools.

In the process, it strongly implies (wrongly) that teachers’ unions are undermining educational quality and strongly suggests (also wrongly) that charter schools may be some sort of magical solution to poorly performing public schools. In truth, charter schools are a mixed bag, and for each one of the successes depicted in the movie, there are many others that are failures.

The movie does include the disclaimer: “Great schools won’t come from winning the lottery. Great schools won’t come from Superman. They will come from you.”

But how?

The director, Davis Guggenheim, fails to answer that question. I think I read somewhere that he wanted to promote a discussion instead. (That sounds better, of course, than wanting to just sell tickets.) But this discussion has been going on a long time, and teachers and their moviemaligned unions have been right in the middle of it.

Welcome to the discussion, Mr. Guggenheim.

Good charter schools have a place in our educational system. But one thing this movie won’t change is the fact that the overwhelming number of children in this country will continue to be educated in traditional public schools, many of which are very good. Many, however, are not, and that problem must be addressed.

The answers are more obvious than most of our state policymakers want to admit.

The keys to success in public school classrooms are qualified, dedicated teachers with enough resources to do their jobs. Those resources start with an adequate, equitable school finance system funded by the state. In that respect, Texas is woefully lacking, ranking 38th among the states in perpupil spending on instruction. And, many of the districts with the highest dropout rates and other educational problems are those with the least financial resources.

Texas doesn’t lead the country in the percentage of adults without high school diplomas because it doesn’t have enough charter schools. It leads the country in that dubious category because it doesn’t adequately pay for its public schools and aggressively attack its serious dropout problem.

Beginning with our leaders in Austin, we must work harder in Texas to improve our public schools with smaller class sizes, improved teacher mentoring and professional development programs and professional educator salaries. All schools should have the tools and resources necessary to help all students succeed. Students shouldn’t have to rely on getting lucky in a lottery to get a quality education preparing them for success.