Oprah Winfrey Mayor Booker Gov Christe and Education?

I have been following the news about public education and the movie "Waiting for Superman".  The United Church of Christ has a minister, Jan Resseger  whose full time job is to support public education.  I am going to attach a copy of the e-mail which she just sent me about what people are saying about this. 
I am glad that people are talking about public education and I suggest that Christ Church have a group who will go see the movie "Waiting for Superman" as a group or individually and then meet to discuss it.  One member of Christ Church has already seen the movie in a private showing at NJPAC and she is in favor of the discussion.  I know that some people get through the system inspite of poor schools but I worry about our "throw away chilren" who drop out and who could have become doctors, or scientists or teachers or lawyers or financial experts.
Here is what Jan says:

I send links to two blog posts this morning.  Both are thoughtful
reflections after the hoopla in the media this past week on the opening of the
film, “Waiting for Superman,” and the special coverage on NBC, “Education
Nation.” 

Both writers are well respected and extremely thoughtful generally, but their
comments yesterday explore two subjects that have been skimmed over with
virtually no attention that I can see this past week. 

The first is from Valerie Strauss, “Answer Sheet” blog in the Washington Post: “The
Poverty Gap: There Are Always Exceptions, But They Make Bad Policy.”  http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/school-turnaroundsreform/obama-and-the-elephant-part-2.html#more
  What does it mean for public schools that in Washington, DC,
“Among black children… childhood poverty shot up to
43 percent, from 36 percent in 2008 and 31 percent in 2007”?  Most
particularly what do such statistics mean for schools?  Of course all
children can learn, but how can we realistically consider the impact of
children’s lives outside school on their academic achievement and address those
children’s needs---to ensure the children can learn?

The second is from Anthony Cody’s very thoughtful Education Week blog,
“Living in Dialogue.”  Yesterday’s post is entitled: “Teachers: Must We Be
Saints or Sinners?”  http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2010/10/teachers_must_we_be_saints_or.html
.  Cody is a public school teacher.  In this blog he reflects on what
society expects of school teachers and wrestles with how such expectations can
be met and at what cost.

These  columns explore deep and important issues the media has ignored.  I hope
you will read and think about them.

In peace

-Jan

Ms. Jan Resseger

Minister for Public Education and Witness
Justice and Witness Ministries

700 Prospect, Cleveland, Ohio44115

216-736-3711
http://www.ucc.org/justice/public-education

"That all citizens will be given an equal start
through a sound education is one of the most basic, promised rights of our
democracy.  Our chronic refusal as a nation to guarantee that right for
all children.... is rooted in a kind of moral blindness, or at least a failure
of moral imagination....  It is a failure which threatens our future as a
nation of citizens called to a common purpose... tied to one another by a
common bond."   —Senator Paul Wellstone, March 31, 2000 Jeannette Brown