ONE OF the most heartbreaking documentaries in the last few years-and there have been a ton of them of late-is Waiting for ‘Superman’. That the 2010 film didn’t even get a nomination for best documentary that year proves once again that Hollywood’s political prejudices still trump mere quality when the Oscars are handed out.

And this documentary may have been the most politically incorrect one of the year. Few films have so offended the Iron Triangle that dominates the decline of public education in this country: the teachers’ unions, the politicians who’ll do whatever the union bosses say, and a staid educational establishment that can be relied on to put its bureaucratic interests over mere education.

‘Superman’ tells the story of families who are trying to get their kids into better schools-many of them charter schools. In the end, some of the kids get in, some don’t, and more should. But the always vigilant guardians of inertia keep a tight lid on the number of families allowed that choice.

That’s why lotteries may be needed to determine which kids make it into a charter school and which are left to the mercies of failing public schools. While parents of the successful children celebrate their child’s getting a chance for a quality education and a better life, other families quietly weep in despair. Because of the luck of the draw, their children will be sent back to failing, even dangerous, schools-and to uncertain futures. Double shame.

Word is that some people of means were so affected by this documentary that they took steps to help the kids in the movie who lost out in the lottery. Good for them.

But there are still thousands, maybe millions, of American children who could be in better schools today but aren’t-because the supposed adults in charge of public education in many a school district aren’t about to give an inch of their turf (and the money that goes with it) to let kids have a better chance in life.

ANY TIME a charter school opens, or expands, or is planned, or even mentioned, folks who have kids’ best interests at heart should applaud. (A golf clap will do if you’re someplace where a loud Hooray! would be inappropriate.)

Note this story from last Sunday’s paper: This state’s online K-8 home-school program-the Arkansas Virtual Academy-is expanding. And how. Its enrollment last school year numbered about 500 students from all across Arkansas. Back in April, the Legislature upped that cap to 3,000. And voted to let the school expand into a high school in coming years.

This state’s Virtual Academy has already received more than 1,300 applications for next year, and summer’s just starting. You’d be forgiven if you think that once families begin settling in after summer vacation, maybe around August, the applications will only go up. The more the merrier. Bring ’em on.

If the Virtual Academy breaks the 1,500 threshold, much less gets anywhere near 3,000 kids, it will become the largest charter school in the state. Here’s wishing the school and all its teachers the best in that effort.

The usual suspects will find and have found “problems” every time charters are mentioned. Like this one: The Virtual Academy, like many charters, is funded by public dollars. In this case, $6,237 per child next year. Opponents of charter schools would tell you that the money could be better spent on regular public schools and that granting that money to charters is “taking away” money from public schools. What they don’t say is that most charter schools are public schools, including the Virtual Academy.

Critics of charter schools also aren’t likely to mention that any charter school that doesn’t perform-that is, a charter that doesn’t live up to its charter-can be and regularly is shut down. Unlike the kind of public schools that can go on and on, year after year, failing their students. Which is why so many parents are still on waiting lists for charter schools. (See Waiting for ‘Superman’.) THERE are many advantages to sending kids to a real schoolhouse instead of a virtual one, charter or no.

A physical classroom gives children an opportunity to develop social skills as they learn to get along with others. Such a school, given the right teachers, can teach cooperation and discipline in a way that prepares its students for the real world. (No talking when others have the floor. Keep your hands to yourself.) Just being part of an institution like a school has its social benefits.Like teaching teamwork. (Go Bears!)

But some kids do better on their own, or at least at home with a parent or grandparent guiding them. And there’s no debating that there are many home-schooled kids who are being well educated. Even superbly well educated.

But maybe the most assuring aspect of Virtual Academy is that the students have to take all those state-mandated exams-just like other children in the state. The academy may be virtual, but the academics have to be solid. That’s the only way this kind of school, or maybe any other, will work. Accountability is still essential to a good school. Like transparency, parental support and adequate funding.

Now virtual schooling can work for thousands more kids in Arkansas, thanks to the Legislature and its decision this past session to let this virtual school expand. The only drawback we can see to the Ledge’s decision is that it should have taken so long.

Editorial, Pages 10 on 06/17/2013