This is my third time watching the movie Waiting For Superman, and this is the third time it has brought me to tears. The first time I saw the movie, it made me question my decision to become a school teacher. The second time I saw it, it did just the opposite. It made me that much more confident that this is what I want and NEED to do with my life. The way I see it, if I can become a good or even a great teacher, then I can do my part in helping the future of our children and of our nation as a whole.
One part of the movie that really got to me was the children waiting to see if they got into schools based on a lottery. Seeing the sadness and disappointment on the faces of their mothers, fathers, and grandparents was very hard. I could not imagine being in a position such as theirs. Having to sit back while my child got less than they deserved would be unbearable. The fact that this country can not fix its broken education system is appalling.
Perhaps the most disturbing part of the movie was that about tenure. I think it is ridiculous that teachers are granted tenure just for "continuing to breathe for 2 years" (Waiting For Superman). As the movie pointed out, teaching is not a right, it is a privilege. If teachers are not doing their very best and helping children grow and learn, they should lose their jobs. Most other jobs, if you are doing a bad job, you will be fired. Why is this not the case for teachers? By allowing tenure we are telling lazy and incompetent teachers that "its OK, you can still have your job", when they do not deserve it.
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