Post watching Waiting for Superman

Amidst the reading, highlighting, and note taking I'm doing for the upcoming week, I had Waiting for Superman playing in the background. This is a documentary I've been wanting to see for a while, and is totally relevant to topics we've discussed in our classes.
For all the positive praise this documentary received, I was really disheartened by the end of it. I thought teachers were very negatively portrayed in this film. I can't say the film accurately captured what I felt like going through public school, but I wonder if it is a fair portrayal for some students experiences, other than my own. I'm also unsure if the film was anti- teacher's union, or if that was just me. I felt like much of the film was highlighting serious problems within public education today, citing a lack of funding, but then saying, without hesitation, that bad teachers are the problem.
So, I watched the credits roll and I was left with a really hollow feeling. But also a question of how could we make our public education better? I would suggest alternatives to the gymnasiums of tearful children and adults who were not drawn from the lottery to get into the charter schools. That was just awful. I thought there were a few elements of charter schools that I thought were beneficial to the students- small class sizes and individual attention to students was definitely a positive element to charter schools. This also made me think about where the schools are, and what the community members and parents have to say about the public school where they live. I wonder if it would help if they (parents, teachers, community members) had more influence on what the school could be, and should be, than on politicians who may or (most likely) may not have ever visited that particular school. Creating democratic societies outside of the classroom, having teachers, parents, and the community have more say in the classrooms? Or having a select few politicians create sweeping changes to reform education across the country? I could be missing other options, and I think my first question is pretty idealistic. I'm just grappling for some sense of "what if" answer to satiate my hollow feeling after watching Waiting for Superman.
I'm also curious to find out what others think who have seen the documentary. If anyone thought there was a paramount message to the film that I missed, I definitely welcome your insight. I came away from watching the film with a very, very biased opinion of it, and I want to make sure I'm giving it a fair chance. Especially after all that hype!