<p>The truth is that no one can understand how bad things are in some urban public schools unless they experience it. My daughter decided on boarding school herself because her public school was awful. My brother’s kids attend very nice public schools in another part of the country. I have taught in both kinds of schools. Please believe me when I say that you simply would not believe HOW BAD it can get. Even the very best, brightest kids from solid families can’t thrive in the bad environments, not to mention the kids with fewer resources and flimsy support networks.</p>
<p>I will certainly see “Waiting for Superman” some time in the near future. I look forward to discussing it or reading others’ discussion of it. From my exposure to small, unregulated private schools, I would suspect that charter schools are often mismanaged, too. How can we fix this mess of a system?</p>