DOCUMENTARY ON CORRUPTION IN NEW JERSEY SCHOOL SYSTEM “THE CARTEL” TO SCREEN ON OCTOBER 25TH IN JERSEY CITY
watch the trailer: http://www.vimeo.com/5596036
WHEN: Sunday, October 25th, 2009 - 4:00 P.M.
WHERE: OLC Community Room - Our Lady of Czestochowa
118 Sussex St. Jersey City, NJ 07302
WHY: A community screening of “The Cartel”, a documentary that focuses on the education crisis in New Jersey, with highlights on what is happening in Jersey City, including the year-long struggle faced by The Ethical Community Charter School to have its charter approved.
No other state besides New York spends as much per pupil, but the Garden State has little to show for its investment. Spending can exceed $400,000 per classroom, and yet only 39 percent of the state’s eighth-graders are proficient or advanced readers, and only 40 percent are proficient or advanced in math. This costly, unconscionable failure forms the subject of “The Cartel.”
“The Cartel” shows the educational system like it has never been seen before. Behind every dropout factory lurks a powerful, entrenched, and self-serving cartel, but the film doesn't just describe the problem. By balancing local storylines against interviews with education experts such as Clint Bolick (former president of Alliance for School Choice), Gerard Robinson (president of Black Alliance for Educational Options), and Chester Finn (president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute), “The Cartel” explores what dedicated parents, committed teachers, clear-eyed officials, and tireless reformers are doing to make our schools better for our kids.