TOW Post #29- Documentary Rhetorical Analysis

            There are many problems in the world today, including hunger, the middle class, debt, and many other problems. Yet luckily the United States is not suffering with many of these problems unlike third world countries. So one might think that the United States doesn't have many or close to any problems. Yet there is one problem that is lurking under the American soil, and this happens to be educations. It may seem like our education system is perfect, yet truth be told it certainly is not.  In the documentary Waiting for Superman the director explains just this problem; the education system in America is not the best that it can be. Hence the title "Waiting for Superman" it is as if the children and students of America are waiting for a hero and or a solution to fixing this education system, thus ultimately leading to graduating successful and prosperous students. The argument that the American education school system needs to be fixed is precise considering the many problems that have came up in the news, data shown in the documentary, and personal experience.
              On the news unfortunately, finding good new is rare, most of the time the news is bad or sad and just plain upsetting. Recently on the news there was a school where teachers were caught cheating. The were four female teachers that had changed many answers to many students tests and had kept this among themselves. the Education system regarding the hiring, needs to reevaluate how teachers are chosen and what should be looked for. Because these teachers were clearly not acceptable as a teacher, affected many students grades and perhaps even their process and confidence in learning. Teachers like those women need to be weeded out of schools in order for the students to receive and honest and quality education.
              Shocking data was used to support the director of the documentary's argument that the education system in America needs to be fixed. When talking about the actually benefits of charter schools and public schools they mentioned that “only 17% of charter schools have better test scores than traditional public schools, 46% had gains that were no different than their district counterparts, and 37% were significantly worse.” The fact that this statistic exists, it is ashamed. Not only is our education not broken up for what makes sense, many students are getting cheated. This can be the cause of lack of effort by an employee/teacher, not equal attention, and lack of supplies. Also the documentary brings to light that many of the children who go through “dropout factories” are more likely to drop out and head to a prison than graduate form high school. 

               Unfortunately I have experienced one of the flaws in the American education. No where near some of the bigger problems but it sure a contribution. In high school, one of the most critical stage of the education track before college, every class counts and every grade counts, especially if one wants to get in to a good college. I have witnessed some teachers though out my high school years who  do not care enough when they are teaching. In some cases teachers only care about those who are on track and give up on the one who might need an extra push. Teachers who don't go the extra mile is small problem in the system yet can lead to bad affects down the road, such as students going through the "dropout factory."

                Data has shown that America has begun to fall behind in the education process. Many countries are ahead of many of the students in America, one country being China. I such a competitive world that we live in today, where education is one of the most important keys to success, America needs to reevaluate and take the appropriate actions to fixing the education system.