Finally, a film that celebrates public education
Harvard political scientist Marshall Ganz’s book, “Why David Sometimes Wins,” uses the Biblical David vs. Goliath story as a metaphor about the battle for social justice. Once in a while, writes Ganz, a long-time union organizer, the have-nots conquer the haves, but they have to be more clever and resourceful.
I recently saw a documentary film, “Go Public: A Day in the Life of an American School District,” that is like the slingshot in the ongoing war over public education. This scrappy documentary celebrates public schools without ignoring its problems. It is an antidote to misleading films like “Waiting for Superman” and “Won’t Back Down,” which view traditional public schools as failures and charter schools and corporate-oriented “privatization” as the solution to what ails public education.
Not surprisingly, “Waiting for Superman” and “Won’t Back Down” were funded and promoted by the same right-wing billionaires and corporate foundations that have been waging war against public schools. Those two films are part of the propaganda and political arsenal assembled by what Diane Ravitch calls the “Billionaires Boys Club.” By contrast, “Go Public” has no ideological axe to grind other than to present a balanced exploration into the lives of the teachers, students, parents, and others who populate a typical urban public school system.
