A film titled “Waiting for ‘Superman'” is scoring record high numbers at the box office in the few markets where it has been released. It is due for wider national distribution this weekend and is likely to smash previous records for documentary films.

According to Lesley Chilcott, the film’s producer, “Waiting for ‘Superman'” focuses on the current “full-blown crisis” in public education.

This writer has not seen the film but it reportedly deals primarily with challenges and issues facing K-12 public schools. However, there seems justification for the public to be equally concerned about a crisis that probably exists in the nation’s state-aided universities.

Whenever anyone questions how public schools are being run, there are bound to be varied and heated reactions. As yet, there isn’t any perfect answer or any answer that seems to fit all public schools.

The one constant seems to be that more and more money is being poured into education at K-12 levels, as well as at universities, community colleges and other educational facilities, and yet, growing numbers of taxpayers believe this money is going into a broken system, a system that needs to be improved.

A prominent Kansas educator who has seen “Waiting for ‘Superman'” told this writer he thinks the film could be a spark that ignites the mistrust and pent-up frustration among millions of Americans about how this country goes about teaching and stimulating students from kindergarten through college.

Here in Lawrence, there are those who focus on the K-12 system while others are concerned about what is going on at Kansas University and other Kansas Board of Regents universities.

A senior and prominent KU faculty member told this writer his concern is that the university has become “a factory which turns out degrees … not an education.”

He said students know a college diploma is tremendously helpful in getting a job, particularly in the current job market.

The highly respected teacher said faculty tenure is likely to become a thing of the past in future years with teachers hired and fired more on the basis of need.

Asked about faculty morale at KU, this teacher said there are three levels or segments of the teaching fraternity: older in age with longer service at KU, a middle group and the younger or fresher group of faculty members. He said the older faculty members have “given up” on seeing meaningful changes and improvements, the middle group is “exhausted,” and those in the “young” or newest group are “hanging on.”

If accurate, this is a crisis in itself.

He continued, “What needs to be done is to figure out how to restore the environment of years ago on the KU campus where excitement and enthusiasm was evident throughout the university and students, faculty and alumni were excited and enthused about the leadership and vision of senior university administrators.

“Unfortunately, this is lacking today, and it is imperative to get it back. It is just as serious today at KU as those who put together ‘Waiting for ‘Superman” think it is crippling K-12 education.”

This critic also said the Board of Regents and its staff do not and will not have the respect of faculty until one or more people with bona fide credentials showing a thorough knowledge of higher education and what is going on at the various campuses, becomes a member or top staff member of the regents. As most people interested in higher education realize, too much attention has been given by Kansas governors to appointing individuals as a political payoff or IOU for past favors, not because they are qualified, knowledgeable and respected people who will make an effort to know what is going on in the university community and not simply accept the self-serving assessments presented by chancellors and presidents.

Various individuals or organizations have varying assessments of the American system of education. How does it rank with those in Asia, Europe or elsewhere? How many days of schooling should students have during the calendar year? Is tenure good or bad? How much government intervention should be permitted? What does a “good education” cost?

Whoever picked the title for the documentary film “Waiting for ‘Superman'” hit the nail on the head. Who or what is going to be the “Superman” that fixes the American education system? Millions of Americans — including many in Lawrence — are waiting for this “Superman.”