...which apparently does not include a whole lot of IMDbers, "180 Days..." follows a variety of individuals throughout a year at Washington, D.C.'s Metropolitan High School, an "alternative" institution for at-risk children (i.e. poverty, drugs, pregnancy, parental neglect, etc.), at the end of which its first senior class will graduate. The film follows five students, various teachers and administrators (including the school's charismatic powerhouse principal, Tanisha Williams Minor) throughout the school year as they pursue goals of self-improvement that more advantaged schools don't have to deal with quite so single-mindedly. At times heartbreaking and other times richly ennobling, "180 Days..." makes evident the various problems that confront this nation in its efforts to improve public education. One thing is certain above all: there are no easy answers.
Highly recommended, but especially to those who've deluded themselves into thinking it's all the teachers' fault, or all the students' fault, or all the administration's fault. In one way or another, it's everyone's fault.
Highly recommended, but especially to those who've deluded themselves into thinking it's all the teachers' fault, or all the students' fault, or all the administration's fault. In one way or another, it's everyone's fault.
