Documentary Film Review/Analysis

I watched the documentary Waiting For Superman. I found it to be a powerful documentary, and would certainly recommend it. As of yet, I have not had time to fact check all of the statistics cited, but overall it paints a rather deplorable picture of the education system in America.

The documentary follows the journeys of several families who are trying to get their children accepted into some of the best Charter schools out there. The film goes on to note however, that only 17% of Charter schools perform better than the average public school. The parents of the children proceed to outline their reasons for wanting their children to go to the Charter school, instead of their public school. The film goes on to note that many teachers unions have prevented School Districts from firing teachers who were ineffective, or just didn't even teach. I found this part to be somewhat one sided, because in other areas the right to fire a teacher whenever would certainly be abused. We need to seek a balance between job security for teachers, and ensuring that we cull the under performing teachers.

The film also outlined how the process is really quite heart wrenching. Many of the schools only accept a few dozen kids a year, and there are hundreds of applications. This leads to only a very few kids being given the opportunity to escape their schools, and have the chance of higher education. Many of the kids in the films were suffering under teachers who were largely ineffective at the their jobs, either because they were apathetic, or just plain bad teachers. This was compounded by the issue that the kids had no where else to go, because the schools they already attended were overcrowded, so there was no nearby school to which they could transfer in the hopes that they would have a better teacher.

The film interviewed several rather high profile people also; ranging from Michelle Rhee, to experts in the field of education who had years of research backing up their points. The points largely made by these experts, was that the teachers are the people who matter. If a student has a good teacher they have a greatly improved chance of success, but with a poor teacher comes a decreased chance of success, and so we must work to ensure that the teachers in our schools, are really excellent at what they do.

Overall, I feel that the film is certainly worth watching, as it was pretty interesting with regards to the issue it covered, but also with regards to the way in which it was made. The film was composed of a narrative. The narrative of these families hoping that their number was called in the Charter lottery. This narrative was interspersed with interviews from experts in the field of Education, extrapolating on the reasons that the parents had given for wanting their kids out of public schools. The interviews were pretty informal, and didn't use any silly jargon like synergy, which we all know is a buzzword. Tangents aside, the film was well made, and you should definitely watch the trailer which I will of course embed below.

Independent Blog Post 12/16

I am, unfortunately writing this post slightly later than usual. You see, it's 8:10 PM currently, while usually I write my posts at 10:00 AM, so excuse me if I begin to ramble. On another note, tomorrow's my birthday!

Now on to the post!

Recently the North Koreans launched a rocket into the air and actually got it to launch a satellite. This is the first time that the launch has not ended up in the rocket exploding somewhere dangerously near Japan. The United States, and most of the world in fact have condemned North Korea for pursuing a space program, which they allege is a front for developing Inter Continental Ballistic Missiles(ICBM's) for use against the United States and other powers.

The North Koreans had initially announced that they may have to delay the launch of this latest rocket due to 'technical difficulties', the launch did however go ahead as planned. This is also the first time that North Korea has attempted two rocket launches in the same year. Their launch earlier in the year, however, failed.

All in all, these represent somewhat worrying developments in North Korean boldness, and willingness to disregard sanctions and other forms of pressure that have been imposed upon the nation by both the United States, and the wider global community via the United Nations.

Here's an embedded video of CNN coverage of the rocket launch.

Independent Blog Post

It's documentary time! 

For my group's documentary we chose to focus on the issue of statehood for Washington DC. This is somewhat of a contentious issue. DC residents (mostly) feel very strongly that DC should become a state, Congress, however, has voted several times not to permit the admission of a new state that would include DC. 

It is frequently argued that DC voters are disenfranchised by not being represented with a voting member in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Additionally, Congress retains a very large amount of oversight over the District, and has often tried to influence its politics. 

It is necessary, however, to examine the Constitution when discussing statehood for DC. The Constitution specifically provides for the creation of a Federal "District", which some argue excludes the possibility of DC becoming a state.

All in all, the issue of statehood for DC is a very interesting, and complex issue. I think my group is going to have a lot of fun.

Independent Blog Post

The Fiscal Cliff

     As the media so loves to tell us, the United States is heading for the 'fiscal cliff'. This means that if an agreement on spending cuts, and/or tax increases is not made by January 1st 2013, there will be automatic budget cuts, called sequestration.

     Absolutely no one wants that to happen. The issue lies in getting the two sides of the issue to sit down and actually talk to each other, without trying to bite each others heads off. Most Republicans, those who have signed Grover Norquist's pledge, do not want to raise taxes on anyone for any reason. However, if they do not come to an agreement with the Democrats, who see tax increases on the wealthy as necessary to close the deficit, then the Bush tax cuts will automatically expire, meaning that everyone in the country will have to pay more in taxes.

     Considering the delicate economic climate, neither side can afford to be blamed for stalling negotiations. Many Republicans, in fact, have reneged on their signing of the no tax increases pledge, saying that it can no longer be upheld and is no longer feasible.

     At this point I no longer really care about what the agreement, which I hope the politicians reach, contains. So long as we do not plunge into the abyss, I think that any solution will be welcome. The alternative is far too menacing.