"poor students have a problem learning regardless of who the teacher is."
That just isn't true. Most school districts don't even get rid of the teachers who are so horrible they shouldn't be allowed near children not to mention the ones that just don't care and kick their feet up and let the kids run wild.
As a former high school teacher in a low-income community, I think that movie only told a small portion of the issues of education. There are certainly teachers that aren't the greatest, but we're doing very little to entice the best teachers to teach in the most difficult places, and even less to make sure it's sustainable. Most of the teachers I knew did what they could at a pace that would allow themselves not to completely burn-out. And a most of the burnouts started as energetic young teachers.
Not dealing with problem employees and allowing them to just continue muddling along sends a strong signal to the best people that their work isn't valued and tends to push them to leave. It's a huge part of the problem; people don't like to talk about firing people because it is socially uncomfortable but in the end it's better for both the workplace and the worker instead of just ignoring it and institutionalizing incompetence.
That just isn't true. Most school districts don't even get rid of the teachers who are so horrible they shouldn't be allowed near children not to mention the ones that just don't care and kick their feet up and let the kids run wild.
You should check out the documentary "Waiting for Superman". http://www.takepart.com/waiting-for-superman It is on Netflix.