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Tell your story The good work that you do everyday in the classroom should not be overlooked because a slick filmmaker with an agenda has a new movie. Tell us about the good work you and your colleagues do everyday in San Francisco's public schools Go to UESF's FACEBOOK - Click on Discussions Comment on local media coverage: KQED Forum | SF Chron Review | Bay Citizen |
FLYER to distribute @ Screenings
Waiting for Superman opens October 1st in San Francisco. Many of you will no doubt go see this powerful, yet misleading film. Many more of you will probably have friends and family contact you to get your opinion.
Davis Guggenheim, the filmmaker, offers an incredibly narrow view of public education, championing charter schools as the end all fix all for the problems we face, and demonizing those who work in traditional public schools and teacher unions. His narrative is not only misleading, but dishonest at times.
This approach makes for a heart-wrenching Hollywood film, but in the end provides a very destructive analysis of the issues, and offers no real solutions.
UESF officers and staff have worked hard over the past few weeks to start up a conversation with local education advocates, parents, educators, and concerned residents in the Bay Area to turn the focus away from blaming teachers and unions, to one that focuses on the opportunities the attention from the film will bring.
This conversation has focused not only on the challenges our schools face, but on the good work that has been going on here in San Francisco that has made our district the highest performing urban district in the state.
Those efforts include the landmark passage in 2008 of Proposition A - the Quality Teacher and Education Act. Among other things, Prop. A helps improve teaching in San Francisco by increasing the amount of professional development offered to teachers, offering stipends to teachers who work in hard-to-staff schools and hard-to-fill subject areas, creating a Master Teacher program, and implementing a stronger Peer Assistance & Review Program to improve teacher effectiveness in the classroom.
We hope that you will take the time to review the materials below, and that you will share your thoughts with your colleagues, family, friends, and the parents of your students.
And don't forget to tell your story. The good work that you do everyday in the classroom, and the herculean effort that our school communities make to improve education in our city, should not be overlooked because a slick filmmaker with an agenda has a new movie.
Tell us about the good work you and your colleagues do everyday in San Francisco's public schools: Join the disccusion on FACEBOOK, or send an email to: ask-uesf@uesf.org; Facebook
The Facts
• Stanford Report: Charter schools don't outperform public schools
• Vanderbilt Report: Merit pay found to have little effect on achievement
• SF Chron: SFUSD continues to improve, close the achievement gap
Reviews
• Review by Rachel Norton, SF School Board Commissioner
• UESF member review - Amy Sullivan, Teacher at Ortega Elementary
• What Superman Got Wrong, Point by Point - Washington Post
• Grading 'Waiting for Superman' - The Nation
• New Yorker: School Work - A critique of WFS
• Bay Citizen: Waiting for 'Superman'?
Get Involved
• AFT Resources Page - Not Waiting for Superman
Comment on local press coverage of the movie - KQED Forum | SF Chron Review | Bay Citizen
