Director Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) puts much of the blame for the current state of the public school system on teachers unions and local district and government bureaucracy. He provides examples of educational reformers who attempt to turn around "drop out factories" (as he refers to public schools, some of which have 50% drop out rates) but are thwarted by "the system" at every turn.
A panel discussion followed the movie. Panel members included a SDUSD board member, the president of the San Diego Teachers Union, Larry Rosenstock (founder of a successful group of charter schools in San Diego) and a local businessman. The debate was lively and entertaining (though I felt one sided). The audience was in general "pro charter".
The film, like most stories, had moments of truth and elaboration. The director states he wanted to motivate audience members to action. So it is no surprise he stretched the truth on a few occasions for sake of creating a compelling and emotional story. But he did bring up some good points regarding the difficultly schools face when attempting to improve the quality of education through radical change.
The movie showcases the public nature of the selection process for charter schools. It showed parents and children crowded into gymnasiums while school leaders called off random numbers as part of an entrance lottery. The look on the faces of children who were not accepted into the charter school (and therefor doomed to failure at their local public school) "pulled on the heartstrings" of the audience members. Mr. Rosenstock commented on how he disagrees with that type of selection system because it creates opportunities for students to be publicly disappointed and humiliated.
One interested fact brought up in the movie was that 4 out of 5 charter schools fail. Mr. Rosenstock confirmed this statistic. Being that Rosenstock's group of "High Tech High" charter schools have a record of success, I wish he could have been given an opportunity to elaborate on what it takes to make a successful school.
Below is a picture of one of the girls who showed promise and excitement for education, but was denied a seat at a charter school. She was an example of a student who's optimistic attitude filled you with hope, but then replaced it with despair once you learned she was not accepted into her school of choice. The director did a good job of creating a sense of outrage among the audience.
While I don't agree with 100% of the facts shared in the movie, I did find it inspirational in one area. The movie motivated me to have "difficult" conversations with adults....both staff and parents. I movie stated that sometimes public education focuses on making the adults happy, instead of making sure students are successful. I posted a photo of this girl on the wall of my office and occasionally glance at it while conducting conversations with adults to help remind me that what is right for children is more important than what is convenient for adults..
