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 What Becca was saying in class about how much money it would take to close the achievement gap reminded me of the movie Waiting for Superman.  The movie follows kids trying to lottery into good schools in their areas. It does a great job of showing that the issue does not solely depend on having parents who are educated about their options -- this documentary is heartbreaking in that it portrays families that know what schools their kids need to be in to achieve their dreams, but have very little power over the system. It is a good balance between stats and personal stories, it was featured at this year’s Sundance Film Festival… blablabla its very well done. It is not out yet, however when it is I suggest everyone see it!

 Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKTfaro96dg

I was personally intrigued by the “cultural presumption” topic that we touched on it class, as we tried to articulate the difference between cultures that understand education as defining to the singular person, or supplemental to the individual. Does how we think about this issue change the ways in which we learn? Do some cultures looks for more from their formal education than others? Are our critiques of current school systems partially born from a particular cultural orientation… do we expect a school to be more then it can/should be for the development of an individual?