A Movie that Exposes the Woes of the Nation’s Educational System
A former TV reporter and anchorman created quite a stir when he made a movie documentary about the deteriorating condition of the American educational system. Citing the state of New Jersey as his main example, he is pushing for drastic changes in the way that the schools are being run.
Recent data gathered shows that the country is lagging behind its contemporaries in the math and science field. New Jersey was chosen as an example because the garden state has one of the biggest per capita spending on education. The state also has one of the most dismal scores in SAT, GMAT, and other standardized test and one of the highest dropout rates in the country’s school system.
The director chose New Jersey as the showcase of his argument because the state has the biggest educational spending in the country. However, in spite of its big budget, New Jersey still has an extremely bad dropout rate and a similarly dismal score on nationwide standardized tests.
The director used the gamut of his television reporting craft in making the movie. His information packed condemnation was presented like in-depth news by using his selection of full headshot and side street interviews, stilted B roll, and special graphic effects. Shifting naturally from one viewpoint to another he efficiently denounced the tenure system while defending his proposed voucher system and the stonewalling of charter schools. Factual information have compensated for the movie’s deficiency in method and construction.
Scenes of a high ranking school official riding on chauffeur driven limo to attend a school budget meeting and a school parking area full of luxury vehicles effectively drives the point that the movie wants to impart. Patience and logic were used to present the need for a state and system change.
The main theme is about reforms in the educational system, depicting it as irreparably corrupt, incompetent, and inefficient in a rational, intellectual, and appealing way. Two alternatives to traditional schools are presented; chartered schools that are free, privately run private schools, and the voucher system, which will provide public funds to partially or fully pay for private school fees.
The governor of New Jersey has already announced some reform measures that the state wants to implement. But most New Jersey school officials are still denying that the Garden State schools have problems that are unique in the state alone. Some school officials claim that the movie used only a few select students belonging to the worst of the spectrum.
The existence of a real problem cannot be denied. The movie has presented much factual information to be dismissed outright. The sad part is, we can never have real reforms until the school officials admit that there really is a problem.
JB Spins: The Cartel how far does a billion dollars go in NJ? A film by Bob Bowdon.