Produced on a shoestring by TV journalist Bob Bowdon, this factual and well-reasoned advocacy documentary presents a devastating conservative critique of public education in New Jersey and, by extension, the United States. Bowdon sidesteps inflammatory issues of race and class to focus on money: where it goes, who controls it, and how little of it actually reaches the classroom. New Jersey spends more per student than any other state, but behind that statistic lies a black forest of administrative bloat and institutionalized corruption. Bowdon makes a compelling argument against the defensive maneuvers of teachers’ unions and in favor of vouchers and charter schools, but his documentary is no exercise in free-market cant. It merely explodes the fiction that funneling more money into the same highly bureaucratized and politicized system will fix our deepening education crisis. 90 min.
The Cartel
2009