The education mode in America is working swell, says Bob Bowdon, but simply for some -- and those few surely aren't the students. In his documentary "The Cartel," Bowdon, a New Jersey television news newsperson, turns the camera on the massive corruption and mismanagement that has led his state to use up more than any other on its students nevertheless with substandard results. When $400,000 is exhausted per classroom, but reading proficiency is alone 39% (and math at 40%), the crisis is obvious, which doesn't indicate it's not controversial.
The two sides of this fight meet head-on in interviews throughout Bowdon's picture: there are the teachers union and school board members who have managed to allocate 90 cents of every taxpayer buck into everything but teachers' salaries -- although a selection of school administrators receive upwards of $100,000. On the other side are the supporters of charter schools -- private schools that can work beyond the influence of what Bowdon calls The Cartel. Bowdon makes much of the fact that it's almost impossible for a teacher to be fired, a safety net that does little to incite hard work in those teachers who acknowledge they hold a career irrespective of how many of the three Rs they instruct -- if any.
"'The Cartel' examines lots of out of the ordinary aspects of public teaching, tenure, funding, patronage drops, subversion --meaning thieving -- vouchers and charter schools," says Bowdon. "The term education documentary could sound to some like ho-hum squared, but in fact the picture itself betrays an fervent passion for the predicament of particularly inner-city children."
"The Cartel" first appeared on the festival circuit in summer 2009, appearing in theaters countrywide a year later. Hopefully it will get a rise, and not be overshadowed, by the more recently released docudrama "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 notice to his own, which focuses on public policy. "My film is the left-brained edition, more analytical," Bowdon says, "'Waiting for Superman' is more the right-brained treatment."
The left-brained manner means arguments that observe the economics -- money misspent, opportunities wasted. But that isn't to say the movie is without heart. Bowdon makes sure his eye is perpetually on the people affected, in particular the inner-city students trapped in a disordered system. The tearful face of an adolescent girl who learns she was not selected for a place at a charter school makes its own potent argument for the unsatisfactory failure of a state's education system.
And while 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 situation. A watcher anyplace in the country will discern similar failings in their own school system, and may share Bowdon's frustration and zeal for a solution. Bowdon puts his faith in the charter schools, where the taxpayer has influence over the kind and quality of instruction. However he also knows it'll be an upward battle to regain control from those who've worked so hard to make education very profitable for the very few. - 40723
The two sides of this fight meet head-on in interviews throughout Bowdon's picture: there are the teachers union and school board members who have managed to allocate 90 cents of every taxpayer buck into everything but teachers' salaries -- although a selection of school administrators receive upwards of $100,000. On the other side are the supporters of charter schools -- private schools that can work beyond the influence of what Bowdon calls The Cartel. Bowdon makes much of the fact that it's almost impossible for a teacher to be fired, a safety net that does little to incite hard work in those teachers who acknowledge they hold a career irrespective of how many of the three Rs they instruct -- if any.
"'The Cartel' examines lots of out of the ordinary aspects of public teaching, tenure, funding, patronage drops, subversion --meaning thieving -- vouchers and charter schools," says Bowdon. "The term education documentary could sound to some like ho-hum squared, but in fact the picture itself betrays an fervent passion for the predicament of particularly inner-city children."
"The Cartel" first appeared on the festival circuit in summer 2009, appearing in theaters countrywide a year later. Hopefully it will get a rise, and not be overshadowed, by the more recently released docudrama "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 notice to his own, which focuses on public policy. "My film is the left-brained edition, more analytical," Bowdon says, "'Waiting for Superman' is more the right-brained treatment."
The left-brained manner means arguments that observe the economics -- money misspent, opportunities wasted. But that isn't to say the movie is without heart. Bowdon makes sure his eye is perpetually on the people affected, in particular the inner-city students trapped in a disordered system. The tearful face of an adolescent girl who learns she was not selected for a place at a charter school makes its own potent argument for the unsatisfactory failure of a state's education system.
And while 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 situation. A watcher anyplace in the country will discern similar failings in their own school system, and may share Bowdon's frustration and zeal for a solution. Bowdon puts his faith in the charter schools, where the taxpayer has influence over the kind and quality of instruction. However he also knows it'll be an upward battle to regain control from those who've worked so hard to make education very profitable for the very few. - 40723
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