On Guggenheim's Cutting Room Floor

[proud2BlibKansan]

In the spring of 2009, Randi Weingarten, then head of the United Federation of Teachers, Steve Barr, the founder of Green Dot Public Schools, and I invited filmmaker Davis Guggenheim to the Green Dot New York Charter School in the South Bronx. This new small high school, which the three of us founded, is a successful partnership between Green Dot, the Los Angeles-based operator of high-achieving and unionized charter schools, and the UFT.

It was our understanding that Guggenheim, a self-described liberal Democrat, was turned off by the divisive school politics that pit "reformers" against "reactionaries," the self-limiting anti-unionism of today's charter movement, and the counter-productive take-no-prisoners style of high-profile, short-term superintendents. Green Dot, with its impressive record of student achievement and collaborative approach, offered a powerful third-way model that works for kids, can build lasting change, and doesn't demonize hardworking adults.

Guggenheim's crew came to New York and filmed Green Dot students and teachers. Barr was interviewed on a drive through the school's South Bronx neighborhood. Guggenheim even documented the signing by Weingarten and Barr of the school's first collective bargaining agreement. This landmark thin contract makes little mention of work-rules, provides for due process but makes no mention of tenure, includes Green Dot's trademark un-timed "professional day" for all employees, and has ample opportunities for teacher input.

By all indications, Green Dot New York is already a success. In just two years, 100% of students in the school's inaugural class have passed the state's demanding mathematics exam; 100% passed the state science exam; 97% are on track to graduate in four years. Notably, these impressive results were posted by students who have overcome personal challenges: nearly 10% have a learning disability; another 10% are English Language Learners. And family income is low: 88% of students are eligible for free and reduced-price lunch.

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Davis Guggenheim, conveniently, had much of this on film. Given his belief that teacher tenure "is the most intractable problem in public education," Green Dot New York, with its thin, no-tenure contract, was a model worth depicting. Yet his new movie, "Waiting for Superman," leaves the school--and its promising, scalable innovations--on the cutting room floor. Apparently Guggenheim was more interested in dramatic narrative than documentary accuracy. In depicting hero reformers saving innocent children from villainous unionists, Guggenheim has told a theatrical story that aims for moral indignation through over-simplification. His calculated omission of Green Dot and similar efforts, such as the Union Park High School in Chicago, present caricatures instead of characters and ignore the category-defying examples that represent relevant and replicable alternatives that can drive sustained change.

more . . . http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-gyurko/on-guggenheims-cutting-ro_b_742345.html

[xchrom]

1. Recommend

[Confusious]

2. So many these days don't want to do the hard work

of finding out what works, what doesn't, and then fight for change.

they just want to push their little pet projects, like charter schools, for profit schools, no matter what the cost to other people.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. This is a graphic example

Sad, isn't it?

[Confusious]

4. Yes it is. nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. kick