The Cartel (2009)

American public schools have been growing progressively worse. According to the U.S. Department of Education national testing, only 35% of American high school seniors are proficient in ... See full summary »

Director:

Bob Bowdon

Writer:

Bob Bowdon

Stars:

Bob Bowdon, Bill Baroni, Rick Berman

2 wins.

Cast

Credited cast:
Bob Bowdon	...	Himself - Host
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bill Baroni	...	Himself
Rick Berman	...	Himself
Michael Bloomberg	...	Himself - New York City Mayor (archive footage)
Clint Bolick	...	Himself
Derrell Bradford	...	Himself
Tom Brokaw	...	Himself (archive footage)
Elaine Brown	...	Herself (archive footage)
Mika Brzezinski	...	Herself (archive footage)
Pat Buchanan	...	Himself (archive footage)
Mary Jane Cooper	...	Herself
John Corcoran	...	Himself
Angel Cordero	...	Himself
Jon Corzine	...	Himself - New Jersey Governor (archive footage)
Jim Coston	...	Himself

Storyline

American public schools have been growing progressively worse. According to the U.S. Department of Education national testing, only 35% of American high school seniors are proficient in reading, based on 2006 data. And fewer than one-in-four, 23%, are proficient in math. On the global stage, America ranks last in educational effectiveness among large industrialized countries despite the highest spending per student in the world. It presents a conundrum: How has the richest and most innovative society on earth suddenly lost the ability to teach its children at a level that other modern countries consider "basic"? If the problem is that we're not spending enough on schools, which many people believe, it's instructive to study the U.S. state that spends more than any other per student: New Jersey With spending as high as $483,000 per classroom (confirmed by NJ Education Department records for 2005-06), New Jersey students fare only slightly better than the national average in reading and...

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Plot Keywords:

school teacher | union | principal | charter schools | education politics | 

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Taglines:

education + politics = $

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 October 2009 (USA)

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$3,694 (USA) (16 April 2010)

Gross:

$6,217 (USA) (23 April 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bowdon Media, Moving Picture Institute

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

User Reviews

An educational doc

In 2006, 35% of American high school seniors were proficient in reading; math was at 23%. So reveals provocative documentary The Cartel, produced, written, directed by well-known TV gadfly Bob Bowden. The Cartel is a sincere, albeit flawed, look at a broken educational business that places American children last among industrialized countries for educational effectiveness.

The statistics Bowden presents are arresting: Despite spending more than any other state per student, New Jersey prepares barely half of them for college and not surprisingly ranks 37th in average SAT scores in 2006.

Bowden gives little weight to the enormous poverty and crime in cities such as Newark. Bowden gives too little to the successful city public schools that must exist in such a large state.

I realized China and numerous smaller countries are winning the educational race without the weight of unions and selfish bureaucrats. We need to fix the system—fast.