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 "The Cartel," 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 Cartel' 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."
Bowdon's docudrama started touring the festival circuit in summer of 2009 and made its theatrical debut in April 2010. Hopefully it will get a rise, and not be overshadowed, by the more recently released documentary "Waiting for Superman," by "An Inconvenient Truth" director Davis Guggenheim. Bowdon sees the films as complementary, and hopes that "Superman," with its human-interest position, draws more interest to his own, which focuses on public policy. "The two films make exchangeable conclusions," Bowdon says.
The left-brained position means arguments that watch the economics -- money misspent, opportunities wasted. But that isn't to say the film is without heart. Bowdon makes certain his eye is invariably on the people affected, in particular the inner-city students trapped in a damaged system. A girl's tears upon hearing that she wasn't selected to attend a charter school, that she's stuck in her public school, portray the failure of a system as well as Bowdon's charts and interviews.
It's hard to view a movie about corruption in Jersey and not think of the mob, but it's also unmistakable that this is a national difficulty seen through a tight lens. Any watcher will realize the failings of their own state's education system and the struggle for control. Bowdon comes out in favor of the charter school plan, of taxpayers being able to choose their own schools, to get out from under the state's control. Nevertheless he also knows it'll be an uphill battle to regain control from those who've worked so intense to make education very profitable for the very few. - 40724
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 Cartel' 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."
Bowdon's docudrama started touring the festival circuit in summer of 2009 and made its theatrical debut in April 2010. Hopefully it will get a rise, and not be overshadowed, by the more recently released documentary "Waiting for Superman," by "An Inconvenient Truth" director Davis Guggenheim. Bowdon sees the films as complementary, and hopes that "Superman," with its human-interest position, draws more interest to his own, which focuses on public policy. "The two films make exchangeable conclusions," Bowdon says.
The left-brained position means arguments that watch the economics -- money misspent, opportunities wasted. But that isn't to say the film is without heart. Bowdon makes certain his eye is invariably on the people affected, in particular the inner-city students trapped in a damaged system. A girl's tears upon hearing that she wasn't selected to attend a charter school, that she's stuck in her public school, portray the failure of a system as well as Bowdon's charts and interviews.
It's hard to view a movie about corruption in Jersey and not think of the mob, but it's also unmistakable that this is a national difficulty seen through a tight lens. Any watcher will realize the failings of their own state's education system and the struggle for control. Bowdon comes out in favor of the charter school plan, of taxpayers being able to choose their own schools, to get out from under the state's control. Nevertheless he also knows it'll be an uphill battle to regain control from those who've worked so intense to make education very profitable for the very few. - 40724
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