Last year's release of the documentary "Waiting for Superman" delivered the struggles many parents across America face in finding an adequate education for their children.  A good education, as the movie points out, may be the only true way for these children to achieve a better tomorrow.  The movie also reveals that sometimes the traditional public school system cannot deliver the goods necessary to provide a superb education for every child. 

Fast forward to 2011, and the teachers' unions have released their own education "reform" film called, "The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman."  Clever, right?  The film, which aims at discrediting the arguments made in "Waiting for Superman", is admittedly very anti-charter.   In fact, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis goes as far as to compare the reform ideas presented in "Waiting for Superman" to "terrorism."  The film tries to support its anti-charter sentiment with horror stories of students unfairly punished in charters, and also a particular charter's inability to deliver adequate special needs programming for a student in need.

Some reform ideas put forward by "Inconvenient Truth" include smaller class sizes, less testing, parent and teacher leadership, and "qualified and experienced educators and educational leaders."

While these reform ideas may help repair some of America's faltering public schools, that does not mean that these "fixed" schools will adequately address the needs of every student.  School choice is necessary to give parents the ability to choose the education system that works best for their family's needs.  Charter schools will never replace the traditional schooling system, but they are necessary to give parents an option if the traditional school system fails their child. 

More attention needs to be paid to helping students succeed, not putting together low-budget films in an effort to discredit school choice initiatives.