Written By: Jeanie Chang
flackrabbit.com
Some of you may have seen the Oprah Show on Monday, September 20 and
it really was an eye opener for me. My husband, who is an
administrator and educator in the public school system, and I watched
it together and it brought tears to my eyes.
Oprah had on her show, Davis Guggenheim, Bill Gates and Michelle
Rhee. Davis Guggenheim is the director of the new documentary "Waiting
for Superman." He won an Academy Award for his Al Gore global-warming
documentary "An Inconvenient Truth." Michelle Rhee (who is a
Korean-American) is Chancellor of the District of Columbia Public
Schools and doing some remarkable things in the DC public school
system which has brought her much press. We all know who Bill Gates is
and he was featured because he's passionate about helping fix America's
public schools and promoting Guggenheim's new
documentary which showcases the public school education crisis.
Guggenheim's purpose is to make you care about American public
education even if you're not directly affected. He tracks the lives of
five different families across the country that are struggling with
schools below standard.
On Oprah, an important point that is made which is clearly seen in the documentary is - while the system's failures are hitting the poor kids of color much harder, the schools in more affluent suburbs are not necessarily providing a great education to those children either! The clips that were shown on Oprah were definitely gripping and touching! Guggenheim did indeed make me care after watching the Oprah Show the other day.
Michelle Rhee is one amazing woman. Oprah called her a "warrior
woman" for taking on the worst-performing school district in the
country. I'm so glad Rhee was on the show. She reiterated the public
school education crisis and talked about how the teaching standards
need to be so much higher.
Rhee herself is a mother and had to fire her own child's principal because of those very reasons. It was one of Oprah's best shows in my opinion and I think she did the issue justice. "Waiting for Superman" opens September 24 in limited release so if it's showing in your local area, please take the time to watch it! I can't wait to see it. Whether your children are in public school, private school or not in school yet - it still affects you and it will have an effect on you, if the Oprah Show is any indication!
On a lighter note, after watching this show, I realized how badly I
wanted tickets to the Oprah Show especially since this is her FINAL
season!!! I had tried to get tickets a few years back and my friends
ended up getting tickets and not asking me because they hadn't realized
how hard I had tried to get tickets.
Well, I'm trying again now and am determined to get tickets to a show in Oprah's final season!!! My friend and I will be trying every day on her website. Wish us luck!
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