Whoever has voted Democratic should be made to view one particular scene on a documentary about the cartel on public education in New Jersey. The scene recounts a lottery drawing for slots in a charter school in New Jersey, which incidentally pays higher than any other does. The audience is shown the faces of children whose names have been drawn and the faces of those have not. Both have tears in their eyes, but the similarity ends there-because while those who have been chosen are crying because of their good fortune, those who were not chosen are crying because of hopelessness. The scene puts a spotlight on the faces of the less fortunate kids.
Jeannette Catsoulis, a writer for the New York Times, describes the film as "a bludgeoning rant against a single state." She described the kid who has just failed to get the slot as "another tiny victim of public school hell."
I think that it would be impossible for anyone who does not get any personal or political gain from the cartel's control over New Jersey's education system to watch the scene and not be moved by it. It is not something new that students and teachers both fall victim to a system that is indifferent to the fact that teaching and learning do not take place in many schools. It is not something new that there is an increasing number of these students that leave schools unprepared to work and function in the real world. But you cannot blame the director for presenting facts concerning the issue as if it is new, as if nobody has done anything to alleviate it yet.
It is encouraging to note that since the movie came out, people have started taking steps in keeping themselves informed about how more and more of the taxpayers' money and government funds are being allotted and spent by the cartel on education. On a recent school-budget election in New Jersey, residents rejected over half of the budgets on the ballot.
It seems that education budgets are no longer held as something inviolable in the state of New Jersey. Motivated by that fact, New Jersey Governor Christopher J. Christie took on the education cartel like no previous holder of his office has done before. Although it would facilitate the resolution of this issue if he were to tackle it with the same gusto and assertiveness he shows on the other issues he is undertaking.
It is interesting to note, and would help people be convinced of the credibility of the documentary, that the director's credentials are introduced at the beginning of the film. A local TV reporter in New Jersey, his credence stems from the quality of those belonging to the media profession to see things as they are.
The director also does a good job of presenting statistics comprehensively without compromising the facts. The film presents statistics on tax revenues, government spending on education, New Jersey educational outcomes as compared to educational outcomes of other states, etc.
The New Jersey teachers are in a panic now, as evidenced by this movie and the countless reports about how they are berating Governor Christie. Hopefully, the movie does not inspire only the cartel on education to act, but also those who have yet to do something about alleviating it. We owe the countless children who feel exactly the same as the weeping child in the movie that much.
Jeannette Catsoulis, a writer for the New York Times, describes the film as "a bludgeoning rant against a single state." She described the kid who has just failed to get the slot as "another tiny victim of public school hell."
I think that it would be impossible for anyone who does not get any personal or political gain from the cartel's control over New Jersey's education system to watch the scene and not be moved by it. It is not something new that students and teachers both fall victim to a system that is indifferent to the fact that teaching and learning do not take place in many schools. It is not something new that there is an increasing number of these students that leave schools unprepared to work and function in the real world. But you cannot blame the director for presenting facts concerning the issue as if it is new, as if nobody has done anything to alleviate it yet.
It is encouraging to note that since the movie came out, people have started taking steps in keeping themselves informed about how more and more of the taxpayers' money and government funds are being allotted and spent by the cartel on education. On a recent school-budget election in New Jersey, residents rejected over half of the budgets on the ballot.
It seems that education budgets are no longer held as something inviolable in the state of New Jersey. Motivated by that fact, New Jersey Governor Christopher J. Christie took on the education cartel like no previous holder of his office has done before. Although it would facilitate the resolution of this issue if he were to tackle it with the same gusto and assertiveness he shows on the other issues he is undertaking.
It is interesting to note, and would help people be convinced of the credibility of the documentary, that the director's credentials are introduced at the beginning of the film. A local TV reporter in New Jersey, his credence stems from the quality of those belonging to the media profession to see things as they are.
The director also does a good job of presenting statistics comprehensively without compromising the facts. The film presents statistics on tax revenues, government spending on education, New Jersey educational outcomes as compared to educational outcomes of other states, etc.
The New Jersey teachers are in a panic now, as evidenced by this movie and the countless reports about how they are berating Governor Christie. Hopefully, the movie does not inspire only the cartel on education to act, but also those who have yet to do something about alleviating it. We owe the countless children who feel exactly the same as the weeping child in the movie that much.
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