Waiting for Superman

Apparently, I can't write only about foster care, without writing about teaching too.  Teaching is as much my passion as parenting is.  Just as fostering is about rescuing those children who have been harmed by their parent(s) choices, for me teaching is about reaching those children who would otherwise be sidelined -- the timid children, the naughty ones, those that find learning harder, the advanced children who beg for more challenging learning.  I love teaching!
I watched Waiting for Superman last night.  (I know I'm a little late to the conversation, but I'm cheap and had to wait for the library to get it in.)  Wow.  The light of day reminded me that I do have children, a house, a dog, and a fish; I can't really just pack up and move to the inner city to make a difference teaching in a lousy school.  But let me say:  it is a crime that children have to enter a lottery in order to get a decent education.  It is a crime that for every one child who succeeds, ten children are sent back to their failing schools.  It is a crime that the child who wants desperately to learn and grow is held back by poor teachers who cannot be fired.  It is a crime that great teachers, who are making a difference in the lives of children -- especially in the lives of children who have no other options -- can be let go before poor teachers who have been babysitting for decades.  If we must keep poor teachers, send them to teach in upper-class schools, schools where the parents have other options.