An Insight on New Jersey's Education Cartel
Parimal
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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.
The scene was criticized by New York Times movie critic Jeannette Catsoulis as something that resulted from "emotional coercion," as if the director had found an exceptionally gifted young actor who could cry on his signal instead of just being at the right place at the right time. The critic goes on to say that the movie was "a bludgeoning rant against a single state."
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.
Since the movie came out, people have finally started making efforts to keep themselves informed about how more funding for public schools has helped in buttressing their failures. Shortly after publishing Jeannette Catsoulis' review on the documentary, New York Times reported that a record number of residents of New Jersey rejected 58% of the budgets during the school-budget elections. They resented the teachers' unions for not concurring to concessions and were angry about higher property taxes to compensate for lessened state aid. The residents have finally started stripping their apathy towards the corrupt system.
It seems that education budgets are not revered anymore in New Jersey. And because of that, Governor Christopher J. Christie was able to take on the teachers' unions. Although it is regrettable that his efforts on fighting the cartel might seem halfhearted compared to his undiscriminating approach to the waste and greed 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 makes it easy for the audience to understand the flurry of statistics concerning education funding by the government, tax revenues, comparisons of New Jersey educational outcomes with other states and other countries, and so on.
The movie has the cartel running scared now. And the fact that they are criticizing New Jersey's Governor is not helping them. Hopefully this movie will inspire many to act and do something about this issue. We owe it to the weeping child.
The scene was criticized by New York Times movie critic Jeannette Catsoulis as something that resulted from "emotional coercion," as if the director had found an exceptionally gifted young actor who could cry on his signal instead of just being at the right place at the right time. The critic goes on to say that the movie was "a bludgeoning rant against a single state."
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.
Since the movie came out, people have finally started making efforts to keep themselves informed about how more funding for public schools has helped in buttressing their failures. Shortly after publishing Jeannette Catsoulis' review on the documentary, New York Times reported that a record number of residents of New Jersey rejected 58% of the budgets during the school-budget elections. They resented the teachers' unions for not concurring to concessions and were angry about higher property taxes to compensate for lessened state aid. The residents have finally started stripping their apathy towards the corrupt system.
It seems that education budgets are not revered anymore in New Jersey. And because of that, Governor Christopher J. Christie was able to take on the teachers' unions. Although it is regrettable that his efforts on fighting the cartel might seem halfhearted compared to his undiscriminating approach to the waste and greed 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 makes it easy for the audience to understand the flurry of statistics concerning education funding by the government, tax revenues, comparisons of New Jersey educational outcomes with other states and other countries, and so on.
The movie has the cartel running scared now. And the fact that they are criticizing New Jersey's Governor is not helping them. Hopefully this movie will inspire many to act and do something about this issue. We owe it to the weeping child.
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