Michelle Rhee

Davis Guggenheim's Oscar-winning documentary about climate change was called An Inconvenient Truth . His new one could be called Some Uncomfortable Truths . In fact, the title of Guggenheim's powerful personal essay about America's education crisis is Waiting for "Superman. " But in its description of a system that is battered, broken, and profoundly resistant to change, the documentary lays blame on people and institutions that may have trouble acknowledging their responsibility.

This summer, it handed out 40,000 backpacks filled with school supplies to students in Camden and other low-income areas. This week, one of its founders promised to bail out an after-school program that was set to shutter after state funding cuts. Now, Better Education for Kids (B4K), an organization bankrolled by two hedge-fund managers, is using its cash to help elect candidates who agree with its ideas on education, including tenure reform, voucher programs, and teacher merit pay. The group's political action committee has spent money in four competitive districts, including in Burlington County's Seventh Legislative District, where it has fronted more than $31,000 to send glossy fliers promoting Troy Singleton, a Democrat running for the Assembly, according to financial disclosures filed with the state this week.

Movies Opening This Week Conviction See Steven Rea's preview on this page. Hereafter See Steven Rea's preview on this page. Paranormal Activity 2 More spooky happenings in this sequel to the surprise box-office hit. Stone See Steven Rea's preview on this page. Vision Biopic of Hildegard von Bingen, the 12th-century Benedictine nun who was a Christian mystic, composer, philosopher, playwright, poet, naturalist, scientist, physician, herbalist, and ecological activist.

Erstwhile Philadelphia mayoral candidates Sam Katz and Tom Knox have been sniffing the air for encouragement to once more enter the fray. So, they must have loved the fragrance wafting north from the District of Columbia on Tuesday. Not that you can make a direct comparison between D.C. and Philly politics, but the major factor leading to Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's loss in Washington's Democratic primary has implications for Mayor Nutter: Fenty took the black vote for granted. Washington is not exactly the Chocolate City that the band Parliament/Funkadelic sung about in the 1970s.