The school system might be made to be vastly profitable, says Bob Bowdon, although but at the expense of things comparable to teachers and students. In his education documentary "The Cartel," Bowdon, a TV news reporter in New Jersey, paints a gravid ugly scene of the institutional depravity that has resulted in almost incredible wastes of taxpayer money. The numbers expose the tale: $17,000 exhausted per student, and at hand's just a 39% reading proficiency rate, it's tough to argue that there's a crisis underway, but harder to concur on a resolution.
There are two major factions in Bowdon's movie -- the villains are reasonably clearly the Jersey teachers union and school board who funnel 90 cents of every dollar away from teachers' salaries and toward incidentals, including six-figure salaries for school administrators. The other faction are the supporters of charter schools, the private schools that can get away from the authority of the public school system and would aid inner-city kids if their taxpayer money could be more sensibly used. One of Bowdon's primary criticisms is that a teacher, even a bad one, fundamentally can't be fired -- which provides zero ambition to do much actual instruction.
"'The Cartel' examines lots of different aspects of public education, tenure, funding, patronage drops, subversion --meaning theft -- vouchers and charter schools," says Bowdon. "The phrase education documentary can sound to some like uninteresting squared, but in fact the film itself betrays an fervid passion for the plight of particularly inner-city children."
"The Cartel" first appeared on the festival circuit in summer 2009, appearing in theaters nationwide a year later. It nevertheless proceeds the more-recently released, although higher profile, education documentary "Waiting for Superman," directed by Davis Guggenheim ("An Inconvenient Truth"). Bowdon sees the films as complementary, and hopes that "Superman," with its human-interest stance, draws more interest to his own, which focuses on public policy. "My film is the left-brained version, more analytical," Bowdon says, "'Waiting for Superman' is more the right-brained treatment."
And Bowdon's film is relentlessly acute, making a intense case for the belief that the amount of money spent is nowhere near as pertinent as how it is spent. But that isn't to say the film is without heart. Bowdon makes sure his eye is perpetually on the people affected, especially the inner-city students trapped in a broken system. The weeping face of an adolescent girl who learns she was not selected for a spot at a charter school makes its own strong controversy for the dissatisfactory failure of a state's education system.
And whilst it may be straightforward to admit the presence of corruption in a state so associated with organized crime, the uncomfortable fact of the matter is that this is a vastly familiar condition. A spectator anywhere in the country will acknowledge similar failings in their own school system, and may share Bowdon's frustration and readiness for a solution. Bowdon comes out in favor of the charter school plan, of taxpayers being able to select their own schools, to get out from under the state's control. But he also knows it'll be an upward conflict to get back control from those who've worked so hard to make education very profitable for the very few. - 40729
There are two major factions in Bowdon's movie -- the villains are reasonably clearly the Jersey teachers union and school board who funnel 90 cents of every dollar away from teachers' salaries and toward incidentals, including six-figure salaries for school administrators. The other faction are the supporters of charter schools, the private schools that can get away from the authority of the public school system and would aid inner-city kids if their taxpayer money could be more sensibly used. One of Bowdon's primary criticisms is that a teacher, even a bad one, fundamentally can't be fired -- which provides zero ambition to do much actual instruction.
"'The Cartel' examines lots of different aspects of public education, tenure, funding, patronage drops, subversion --meaning theft -- vouchers and charter schools," says Bowdon. "The phrase education documentary can sound to some like uninteresting squared, but in fact the film itself betrays an fervid passion for the plight of particularly inner-city children."
"The Cartel" first appeared on the festival circuit in summer 2009, appearing in theaters nationwide a year later. It nevertheless proceeds the more-recently released, although higher profile, education documentary "Waiting for Superman," directed by Davis Guggenheim ("An Inconvenient Truth"). Bowdon sees the films as complementary, and hopes that "Superman," with its human-interest stance, draws more interest to his own, which focuses on public policy. "My film is the left-brained version, more analytical," Bowdon says, "'Waiting for Superman' is more the right-brained treatment."
And Bowdon's film is relentlessly acute, making a intense case for the belief that the amount of money spent is nowhere near as pertinent as how it is spent. But that isn't to say the film is without heart. Bowdon makes sure his eye is perpetually on the people affected, especially the inner-city students trapped in a broken system. The weeping face of an adolescent girl who learns she was not selected for a spot at a charter school makes its own strong controversy for the dissatisfactory failure of a state's education system.
And whilst it may be straightforward to admit the presence of corruption in a state so associated with organized crime, the uncomfortable fact of the matter is that this is a vastly familiar condition. A spectator anywhere in the country will acknowledge similar failings in their own school system, and may share Bowdon's frustration and readiness for a solution. Bowdon comes out in favor of the charter school plan, of taxpayers being able to select their own schools, to get out from under the state's control. But he also knows it'll be an upward conflict to get back control from those who've worked so hard to make education very profitable for the very few. - 40729
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