Democracy or Dog-Eat-Dog? Davis Guggenheim's Waiting for 'Superman' and the Academic Debate Concerning Public Education Reform

Abstract

America's public schools are failing. American students who once ranked first in all international comparisons now rank 20th in math and 24th in science. The academic debate that is concerned with reforming America's publich education system has been in full force since the 1960s. In this thesis, I have researched and demonstrated the inextricable relationship between ideology and the reform debate that is concerned with America's education system. Through an examination of Davis Guggenheim's documentary Waiting for "Superman", I have sought to demonstrate the undeniable influence of the 21st-century market ideology on the proposed reform measurements for America's public schools.