A good op ed in the NY Daily News about the dismissal of Waiting for Superman by some on the left:

On the left, the film was met with condescending dismissal. For example, I opened the New Yorker to find Nicholas Lehmann confidently opining that "the educational system . . . is, as a whole, succeeding" and that the damning details of the film "imply too much."

…In The Times, Gail Collins also came down hard on "Superman," writing "There's no evidence that teachers' unions are holding our schools back."

…Indeed, as valuable as the debate around "Superman" has been, it threatens to degenerate into finger-pointing unless everyone acknowledges that there really is a problem and that every party, no matter how culpable or heroic, has to be brought to the table.

But serious work won't happen if the likes of Collins and Lehmann keep insisting - despite obvious evidence to the contrary, most of it right before our eyes - that all really is well in our schools, that all those kids being prepared for the streetcorner instead of the corner office are getting the best education we can give them.

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