WAITING FOR "SUPERMAN"

The Heroes of Public Education

Davis Guggenheim, the Academy Award-winning director of An Inconvenient Truth and the rock doc It Might Get Loud, returns with Waiting for "Superman," a documentary stripping our public-education system to its roots. Profiling students from New York to L.A., Davis takes on the myth that kids from poverty-riddled neighborhoods can't learn and that problems don't exist in white middle-class neighborhoods. "The dysfunction has been so deep, for so long, it's like we are waiting for some superhero to swoop in and fix our schools," says Guggenheim. As inspiring as it is distressing, the movie features chalkboard heroes such as Washington, D.C.'s chancellor, Michelle Rhee, and the president of Harlem Children's Zone, Geoffrey Canada, who are making a difference. "One of the saddest days of my life was when my mother told me Superman did not exist," says Canada. "She thought I was crying because it's like Santa Claus is not real. I was crying because no one was coming with enough power to save us." Guggenheim adds, "There is no big idea other than: Get great teachers, great principals, and put the power on the ground. I want this film to become a call to action. I want it to be the eye-opener."

A. M. HOMES