The education mode in America is working aptly, says Bob Bowdon, however simply for a few -- and those few surely aren't the students. In his documentary "The Cartel," New Jersey television news reporter Bowdon shines a light on the degeneracy and avarice that has resulted in the disappearance of so much taxpayer money in that state. When $400,000 is exhausted per classroom, but reading proficiency is just 39% (and math at 40%), the crisis is apparent, which doesn't denote it's not controversial.
At hand are two major factions in Bowdon's movie -- the villains are pretty clearly the Jersey teachers union and school board who funnel 90 cents of every dollar away from teachers' salaries and towards incidentals, including six-figure salaries for school administrators. On the other side are the supporters of charter schools -- private schools that can maneuver beyond the control of what Bowdon calls The Cartel. Bowdon makes much of the fact that it's almost impossible for an instructor to be fired, a safety net that does little to promote hard work in those teachers who discern they possess a vocation irrespective of how many of the three Rs they teach -- if any.
"'The Cartel' examines lots of unique aspects of public teaching, tenure, funding, patronage drops, subversion --meaning larceny -- vouchers and charter schools," says Bowdon. "The expression education documentary could sound to some like ho-hum squared, but in fact the picture itself betrays an ardent passion for the plight of particularly inner-city children."
"The Cartel" started fashioning the round of the festivals in summer 2009, and made its theatrical debut pretty much a year later, in spring 2010. The picture has started a lot of discussion, which ought no doubt go 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. "My picture is the left-brained edition, more analytical," Bowdon says, "'Waiting for Superman' is more the right-brained treatment."
It is unquestionably analytical, couching its arguments in an assessment of how the money is being spent, or misspent. He follows the money to draw conclusions about how shameless the Jersey school system is, but his film features moments of elevated emotion and heartache. One girl, crying after learning she wasn't selected in a lottery for a charter school, tells the story of What Went Wrong as well as Bowdon's arguments.
It's difficult to see a film about corruption in Jersey and not think of the mob, but it's also apparent that this is a national problem seen through a tight lens. A watcher anyplace in the country will acknowledge similar failings in their own school system, and may share Bowdon's frustration and zeal for a resolution. 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 he also makes it decipherable that those in power are going to be unwilling to give it up without a struggle. - 40731
At hand are two major factions in Bowdon's movie -- the villains are pretty clearly the Jersey teachers union and school board who funnel 90 cents of every dollar away from teachers' salaries and towards incidentals, including six-figure salaries for school administrators. On the other side are the supporters of charter schools -- private schools that can maneuver beyond the control of what Bowdon calls The Cartel. Bowdon makes much of the fact that it's almost impossible for an instructor to be fired, a safety net that does little to promote hard work in those teachers who discern they possess a vocation irrespective of how many of the three Rs they teach -- if any.
"'The Cartel' examines lots of unique aspects of public teaching, tenure, funding, patronage drops, subversion --meaning larceny -- vouchers and charter schools," says Bowdon. "The expression education documentary could sound to some like ho-hum squared, but in fact the picture itself betrays an ardent passion for the plight of particularly inner-city children."
"The Cartel" started fashioning the round of the festivals in summer 2009, and made its theatrical debut pretty much a year later, in spring 2010. The picture has started a lot of discussion, which ought no doubt go 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. "My picture is the left-brained edition, more analytical," Bowdon says, "'Waiting for Superman' is more the right-brained treatment."
It is unquestionably analytical, couching its arguments in an assessment of how the money is being spent, or misspent. He follows the money to draw conclusions about how shameless the Jersey school system is, but his film features moments of elevated emotion and heartache. One girl, crying after learning she wasn't selected in a lottery for a charter school, tells the story of What Went Wrong as well as Bowdon's arguments.
It's difficult to see a film about corruption in Jersey and not think of the mob, but it's also apparent that this is a national problem seen through a tight lens. A watcher anyplace in the country will acknowledge similar failings in their own school system, and may share Bowdon's frustration and zeal for a resolution. 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 he also makes it decipherable that those in power are going to be unwilling to give it up without a struggle. - 40731
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