There's money to be made in education, argues Bob Bowdon, therefore only if you clip away the unprofitable bits, like fantastic teachers. In his docudrama "The Cartel," New Jersey television news reporter Bowdon shines a light on the corruptness and rapacity that has resulted in the disappearing of so much taxpayer money in that state. The numbers convey the tale: $17,000 spent per pupil, and there's but a 39% reading proficiency rate, it's tricky to contend that there's a crisis afoot, but harder to agree on a solution.
The two sides of this conflict meet head-on in interviews throughout Bowdon's picture: there are the teachers union and school board members who have managed to apportion 90 cents of every taxpayer dollar into everything but teachers' salaries -- though a number of school administrators make upwards of $100,000. The other faction are the supporters of charter schools, the private schools that can elude the influence of the public school system and would assist inner-city kids if their taxpayer money could be more sagely used. Bowdon makes much of the fact that it's just about impossible for an instructor to be fired, a safety net that does little to boost hard work in those teachers who acknowledge they possess a career irrespective of how many of the three Rs they instruct -- if any.
"'The Cartel' examines lots of diverse aspects of public education, tenure, financing, patronage drops, corruption --meaning theft -- vouchers and charter schools," says Bowdon. "The expression education documentary may sound to some like dull squared, but in fact the picture itself betrays an ardent passion for the predicament of particularly inner-city children."
Bowdon's docudrama started touring the festival circuit in summer of 2009 and made its theatrical debut in April 2010. It however proceeds the more-recently released, while 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 approach, draws more notice 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."
It is undoubtedly analytical, couching its arguments in an appraisal of how the money is being spent, or misspent. But that isn't to say the movie is without heart. Bowdon makes certain his eye is at all times on the people affected, in particular the inner-city students trapped in a broken system. One girl, weeping after discovering she wasn't selected in a lottery for a charter school, tells the story of What Went Wrong as well as Bowdon's arguments.
And while it may be uncomplicated to accept the presence of corruption in a state so associated with organized crime, the uncomfortable fact of the subject is that this is a vastly familiar condition. A spectator anywhere in the country will realize similar failings in their own school system, and may share Bowdon's frustration and eagerness for a resolution. The one he seems to be most behind is the charter schools, which take the reins from the unions and give them back to the taxpayer. But he also makes it apparent that those in power are going to be unwilling to give it up without a struggle. - 40726
The two sides of this conflict meet head-on in interviews throughout Bowdon's picture: there are the teachers union and school board members who have managed to apportion 90 cents of every taxpayer dollar into everything but teachers' salaries -- though a number of school administrators make upwards of $100,000. The other faction are the supporters of charter schools, the private schools that can elude the influence of the public school system and would assist inner-city kids if their taxpayer money could be more sagely used. Bowdon makes much of the fact that it's just about impossible for an instructor to be fired, a safety net that does little to boost hard work in those teachers who acknowledge they possess a career irrespective of how many of the three Rs they instruct -- if any.
"'The Cartel' examines lots of diverse aspects of public education, tenure, financing, patronage drops, corruption --meaning theft -- vouchers and charter schools," says Bowdon. "The expression education documentary may sound to some like dull squared, but in fact the picture itself betrays an ardent passion for the predicament of particularly inner-city children."
Bowdon's docudrama started touring the festival circuit in summer of 2009 and made its theatrical debut in April 2010. It however proceeds the more-recently released, while 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 approach, draws more notice 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."
It is undoubtedly analytical, couching its arguments in an appraisal of how the money is being spent, or misspent. But that isn't to say the movie is without heart. Bowdon makes certain his eye is at all times on the people affected, in particular the inner-city students trapped in a broken system. One girl, weeping after discovering she wasn't selected in a lottery for a charter school, tells the story of What Went Wrong as well as Bowdon's arguments.
And while it may be uncomplicated to accept the presence of corruption in a state so associated with organized crime, the uncomfortable fact of the subject is that this is a vastly familiar condition. A spectator anywhere in the country will realize similar failings in their own school system, and may share Bowdon's frustration and eagerness for a resolution. The one he seems to be most behind is the charter schools, which take the reins from the unions and give them back to the taxpayer. But he also makes it apparent that those in power are going to be unwilling to give it up without a struggle. - 40726
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