There are few organizing tools as powerful as film. In 2010, Waiting for Superman was a shot of adrenaline in the arm of the reform movement. Financed by billionaire Phillip Anschutz’s Walden Media, the film glorified charter schools and disparaged traditional public schools.
But then in 2011 a group of New York City educators wrote, directed, and produced a powerful response.
The film, The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman highlights the real life experiences of public school parents and educators to show how these so-called reforms are actually hurting education. The film talks about the kinds of real reform–inside schools and in society as a whole–that we urgently need to genuinely transform education in this country.
Anschutz and Walden Media released Won’t Back Down in 2012, likely hoping to replicate the success of their previous release. Public opinion had already turned however, and Won’t Back Down was both a critical and popular flop. To date it holds the record for the worst box office performance for any film released in over 2,500 theaters.
Since 2012 a slew of pro-public education, anti-reform films have been written, produced, and directed by public education allies determined to challenge the reformster narrative. Like The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman, all have been independently financed. Without the backing of billionaires with large production companies, it becomes incumbent upon us to learn, watch, and share the important messages contained in these films.
Below you will find a synopsis of each film, and links to reviews and more information on how you can not only watch the films, but schedule screenings in your community. We have also included a movie that is still in production. Please do what you can to help ensure this film is completed and released.
The films that follow represent a tremendous body of work in support of our movement. As NPE President Diane Ravitch says, “All they have is money. We, the defenders of democracy and public education, have numbers.” If each of us shares these powerful films with our networks, we can continue to successfully counter the reformster narratives that attempt to privatize and destroy public education.
Standardized
Watch online on Vimeo.
Read a review.
Synopsis:
For decades, standardized testing has been a part of public education. Within the last ten years, however, education reform has promoted even more testing. Test scores, mistakenly viewed as effective assessments of student ability and teacher/school effectiveness, are anything but. STANDARDIZED sheds light on the invalid nature of these tests, the terrible consequences of high-stakes testing, and the big money that’s involved.
Education Inc.
Learn about screenings.
Read a review.
Synopsis:
Education, Inc. examines the free-market and for-profit interests that have been quietly and systematically privatizing America’s public education system under the banner of “school choice.”
Education, Inc. is told through the eyes of parent and filmmaker Brian Malone, as he travels cross-country in search of the answers and sources behind the privatizing of American public education, and what it means for his kids. With striking footage from school protests, raucous school board meetings and interviews with some of the most well known educators in the country, Malone zooms out to paint a clear picture of profit and politics that’s sweeping across the nation, right under our noses.
Defies Measurement
Watch online on Vimeo.
Learn about screenings.
Read a review.
Synopsis:
Defies Measurement strengthens the discussion about public education by taking a much-needed, fresh, hard look at why it is so important to address the social and emotional needs of every student, and what happens when the wrong people make decisions for schools.
Heal Our Schools
Learn about screenings.
Read a review.
Synopsis:
The teaching profession is currently being maligned by a number of politicians and other persons in the media spotlights, leading to a dangerous plan to replace teachers without finding out what’s really keeping them from effectively helping their students. Instead of seeing a turnaround in student achievement, we’ll only see a repeat of the same setbacks with the next batch of teachers (if we’re able to attract new teachers at all). It’s time to set the record straight.
Go Public
Learn about screenings.
Read a review.
Synopsis:
On May 8, 2012, fifty small camera crews followed a wide-ranging group of individuals who participate, attend, support and work in the School District. Teachers, students, principals, volunteers and many others revealed their unique involvement in what makes a public school district function.
This project is important now because too much focus has been placed on what is supposedly broken in public school education. There is room for improvement, but our cameras captured the many good things that go on every day in our public schools, the teamwork it takes and the textured richness for those involved. By telling the stories of individuals that work and participate in the schools, we encourage viewers to become informed and compassionate advocates for their community public schools.
In the pipeline
Public School Wars
Watch a preview.
Synopsis:
We are in the midst of a nation-wide struggle between public educators and corporate “reformers.” The future of public education hangs in the balance. This is the story.
