Geoffrey Canada- The real Superman

I recently watched the documentary “Waiting for Superman” written and directed by filmmaker Davis Guggenheim. The film vividly describes the current state of the education system in America and how there are over 2,000 drop-out factories. We have far too many schools which are failing to educate students and prepare them for college or jobs or life. This film ranks in my top five of best films I’ve ever seen in my life. “Waiting for Superman” was released last fall around the same time as “The King’s Speech.” The King’s Speech is the historical drama about King George VI of Britain, his sudden rise to the throne and his struggle with stuttering and public speaking. “The King’s Speech” grossed $132 million dollars in the USA and $208 million outside the USA for a total of $340 million worldwide. “Waiting for Superman” has only grossed $7 million worldwide. To me, this typifies the problem, that the average American doesn’t care about how our current school system fails to educate the majority of American students. Geoffrey Canada was born in 1952 in the South Bronx, NY. He was one of three boys and his father divorced his mother when he was two years old. He grew up very poor and in a struggling single parent household and without any involvement or support from his father. His mother instilled in him that education was the way that he would become successful and better his life. His local high school in the Bronx was one of the worst performing schools in New York and a classic drop-out factory. His grandparents took him in and allowed him to attend a suburban High School in Long Island. Although he graduated his local high school at the top student and when he went to Bowdoin College in Maine, he quickly realized that he wasn’t prepared academically. He went from being the top student at high school to being at the bottom of his freshman class. So Geoffrey Canada realized that even in the suburban areas, the quality of schooling was an issue. He worked extremely hard and performed well and graduated with a degree in Psychology and Sociology. He got accepted to Harvard school of Education and got a Master Degree in Education in 1975. Geoffrey Canada went straight in teaching and has dedicated his life to providing quality education to children. After teaching for several years and learning the flaws and limitations of the public school system, Geoffrey Canada developed a free public Charter School in Harlem and the Harlem Children’s Zone. He guarantees all of his students will go from Kindergarten thru 12th grade will not only graduate High School, but will graduate college. He started with one block radius in Harlem and not covers 100 blocks and about one square mile. Note that the entire city of London is only one square mile. He’s not some famous billionaire, or entertainer or super star athlete, but just one man who has dedicated his life to improving the lives of those who needed help. Geoffrey Canada is the real life Superman.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/opinion/08brooks.html

http://www.waitingforsuperman.com/