"The freedoms of speech and the press are cornerstones of our democracy...They enable vigorous debate, and an exchange of ideas that shapes our political process. Foreign libel lawsuits are undermining this informational exchange. While we cannot legislate changes to foreign law that are chilling protected speech in our country, we can ensure that our courts do not become a tool to uphold foreign libel judgments."

Could 2010 be the year moviegoers get the angry urban parent with a hand-drawn placard, demanding more high-quality charter schools and an end to teacher tenure? This summer, no fewer than four new documentaries, most of them independently produced, tackle essentially the same question: Why do so many urban public schools do such a bad job -- and what can be done to help kids trapped in them? Among the new films:

• Teached, directed by activist and one-time Teach For America corps member Kelly Amis: It tackles teacher tenure, bureaucracy and "anti-child work rules that permeate every school in America," among other issues.
• The Cartel, directed by former TV news anchor and reporter Bob Bowdon: It takes on the "unconscionable failure" of New Jersey's public schools.
• The Lottery, an intimate look at four families' attempts to get their children into an oversubscribed Harlem charter school.
• The biggest and flashiest of the four? Waiting for Superman, directed by Davis Guggenheim, who won an Oscar for ... An Inconvenient Truth.

[...]

Mike Petrilli of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a Washington, D.C., education think tank, says school reform "has gone mainstream -- it's certainly politically mainstream now." The grass-roots push for better schools "fits into a larger American narrative about how small groups of people can change the world."

My friend just went to your movie and said he had tears in his eyes. I have been working in xxxxxx, a tutoring program. People are pocketing millions. I reported it and now my life has been threatened, and this week I have been fired from my job... I really look forward to seeing your movie. If you want more info about how corrupt the NJDOE is, please contact me. -Jean

My sister and I watched a screening last night at BCC, and I can't even begin to tell you how blown away we were. You cut to the heart of every issue and you exposed each rotten core. It was eye-opening even for us, and we considered ourselves well-informed up until last night. The film was a raw, honest wake up call to every tax payer, parent and resident in this state. I think Pablo Escobar himself would blush at the brashness of our education cartel. You hit the nail on the head with the title. I applaud your bravery in making this documentary, and the sheer courage of those participating to put themselves on the line, too...Keep up the phenomenal work!
-Gina

I just saw your wonderful movie. I was on the school board for 4 years in Detroit and the experience you describe is exactly correct. Schools are run for the employees, not the children. Tremendous amounts of money are at stake; there is huge corruption and cronyism, and any effort at reform is met with tremendous opposition by the teachers union. As a reformer who asked questions about money, I was shot at and had my car windows broken three times. It was grueling...
-Camille

• Tuesday, June 29 - The Cartel screens today at the 2010 National Charter School Conference in Chicago. The screening will be at 3:45pm in the theater E350. This conference features a keynote speech from Bill Gates, among other special guests.


• July 31 - August 7 - The Cartel has been selected to screen at the Burbank International Film Festival in early August. Updates on the date and time of the screening will be available soon.


• August 12 - The Cartel will screen at the Where's the Outrage conference on school choice. Director Bob Bowdon and Thor Halvorssen, MPI's founder, will speak at the conference, and several education policy experts will be in attendance.


• August 26 - The Cartel will screen at the Defending the American Dream Summit hosted by Americans for Prosperity. Do As I Say will also be featured; both films will play on opening night from 5:00-8:00 p.m.


• September 3 - The Cartel is making its way to Peoria, Illinois. The film will be playing at the Peoria Theater for a week, beginning Friday, September 3. Showtimes will be available soon.

...politicians are not the only ones questioning their old labor allies. Hollywood, who has long been ally of teachers unions (witness the 1998 Rob Reiner funded Proposition 10), is also beginning to notice. Over the past year, three new documentaries The Cartel, Waiting for Superman, and The Lottery have all taken critical looks at our nation's public school system and produced damning indictments of teachers unions. Bob Bowden, who produced and narrated The Cartel says in the movie:

"Those good teachers deserve our respect. Wanting lousy teachers out of the classroom doesn't mean you're against all teachers. A point so obvious, I can hardly believe it needs to be made. This absurd idea that you have got to support every teacher, or else you hate all teachers, has been an effective myth put forward by the union for years."

Viewers came from all over the area: Edison, Newark, even New York City. "We had a good showing in Westfield last time," said Bowdon. "We sold out last time, so that's why we wanted to come back." [...] The audiences laughed, gasped and hissed along with the film, and engaged in spirited discussion with Bowdon when he asked for questions. "The Cartel" calls for nationwide education reform, using examples mostly from urban New Jersey schools. The film illustrates the high spending and poor performance of many district schools, the dominance of teachers' unions have on New Jersey politics and the demonization of school vouchers and charter schools. The audience seemed to respond well to the film, with many members prefacing their questions with comments expressing support. The comments were similar to those from the first screening in Westfield. "People register outrage when they see this film," he said.