The education method in America is working magnificently, says Bob Bowdon, however only for some -- and those few definitely aren't the students. In his documentary Bowdon, a New Jersey TV news newsman, turns the camera on the monumental corruption and misdirection that has led his state to expend more than any other on its students just with meager results. It's not troublesome for Bowdon to exemplify that something's atrociously incorrect with a state that pays $17,000 per student but can only wield a 39% reading proficiency rate -- that there's a crisis is undeniable, how to deal with it is separate question entirely.
On the one side is the monumental Jersey teachers union and shady school officials, who make certain that, as Bowdon points out in his picture, 90 cents of every tax dollar go for other expenses, including six figure incomes for school administrators and, in a staggering example, a school board secretary who makes $180,000. On the other side are the supporters of a charter education system, private schools in which parents can use tax vouchers to pay tuition and leave behind the public nightmare. One of Bowdon's principal criticisms is that a teacher, even a deficient one, basically can't be fired -- which provides zero effort to do much literal instruction.
"The movie examines lots of unique aspects of public education, tenure, backing, patronage drops, corruption --meaning thievery -- vouchers and charter schools," says Bowdon. "The label education documentary possibly could sound to some like ho-hum squared, but in fact the film itself betrays an fiery passion for the quandary of particularly inner-city children."
"The film started making the round of the festivals in summer 2009, and made its theatrical debut just about a year later, in spring 2010. The movie has started a lot of talk, which ought no doubt carry on with the more-recent release of "An Inconvenient Truth" director Davis Guggenheim's own education expose, "Waiting for Superman." Bowdon says the documentaries can be seen as companion pieces: his focusing on public policy and Guggenheim's taking the human-interest slant. "The two films attain common conclusions," Bowdon says.
The left-brained stance means arguments that observe the economics -- money misspent, opportunities wasted. But that isn't to say the film is without heart. Bowdon makes certain his eye is at all times on the people affected, principally the inner-city students trapped in a damaged system. A girl's weeping upon hearing that she wasn't selected to attend a charter school, that she's stuck in her public school, represent the failure of a system as well as Bowdon's charts and interviews.
And though it may be simple to accept the presence of corruption in a state so associated with organized crime, the uncomfortable fact of the subject is that this is a very familiar situation. Any watcher will acknowledge the failings of their own state's education system and the struggle for control. The one he seems to be most behind is the charter schools, which take the reins from the unions and give them back to the taxpayer. But "The Cartel" also shows us how laborious it's going to be to get that control back from those who've found it so profitable.
On the one side is the monumental Jersey teachers union and shady school officials, who make certain that, as Bowdon points out in his picture, 90 cents of every tax dollar go for other expenses, including six figure incomes for school administrators and, in a staggering example, a school board secretary who makes $180,000. On the other side are the supporters of a charter education system, private schools in which parents can use tax vouchers to pay tuition and leave behind the public nightmare. One of Bowdon's principal criticisms is that a teacher, even a deficient one, basically can't be fired -- which provides zero effort to do much literal instruction.
"The movie examines lots of unique aspects of public education, tenure, backing, patronage drops, corruption --meaning thievery -- vouchers and charter schools," says Bowdon. "The label education documentary possibly could sound to some like ho-hum squared, but in fact the film itself betrays an fiery passion for the quandary of particularly inner-city children."
"The film started making the round of the festivals in summer 2009, and made its theatrical debut just about a year later, in spring 2010. The movie has started a lot of talk, which ought no doubt carry on with the more-recent release of "An Inconvenient Truth" director Davis Guggenheim's own education expose, "Waiting for Superman." Bowdon says the documentaries can be seen as companion pieces: his focusing on public policy and Guggenheim's taking the human-interest slant. "The two films attain common conclusions," Bowdon says.
The left-brained stance means arguments that observe the economics -- money misspent, opportunities wasted. But that isn't to say the film is without heart. Bowdon makes certain his eye is at all times on the people affected, principally the inner-city students trapped in a damaged system. A girl's weeping upon hearing that she wasn't selected to attend a charter school, that she's stuck in her public school, represent the failure of a system as well as Bowdon's charts and interviews.
And though it may be simple to accept the presence of corruption in a state so associated with organized crime, the uncomfortable fact of the subject is that this is a very familiar situation. Any watcher will acknowledge the failings of their own state's education system and the struggle for control. The one he seems to be most behind is the charter schools, which take the reins from the unions and give them back to the taxpayer. But "The Cartel" also shows us how laborious it's going to be to get that control back from those who've found it so profitable.
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News Blaze: The Cartel expose' uncovers cronyism at heart of NJ public education system. A film by Bob Bowdon.
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