SCHOOL: EPISODE 4 - The Bottom Line (1980 - 2001)
AS SEEN ON PBS
Synopsis
In 1983 A Nation at Risk, a report launched by the Reagan Administration, shattered public confidence in America’s schools and sparked a new wave of education reform. This episode explores the wide range of “free-market” experiments that ensued — from vouchers and charter schools to privatization — all with the goal of meeting tough, new academic standards. Today, the debate rages on: Do these diverse strategies challenge our forefathers’ notion of a common school for all Americans? Or are they our only recourse in today’s complex society?
Directed by Sarah Mondale
Produced by Sarah B. Patton and Sarah Mondale
Edited by Marian Hunter
Narrated by Meryl Streep
OTHER EPISODES:
SCHOOL: The Story of American Public Education (series)
Episode 1 – The Common School (1770 – 1890)
Episode 2 – As American as Public School (1900- 1950)
Episode 3 – Equality (1950- 1980)
MAJOR FUNDING FOR "SCHOOL" PROVIDED BY:
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting
The National Endowment for the Humanities
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
The Ford Foundation
The Carnegie Corporation of New York
The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation
The Lovelace Family Trust
The Arthur Vining Davis Foundation
The Annenberg Foundation
Community Funds, Inc.
The Spencer Foundation
The George Gund Foundation
The William H. Donner Foundation
The Hillsdale Fund
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The MetLife Foundation
The W.H. Kellogg Foundation
The James Ford Bell Foundation
The New York Council for the Humanities
The Paul Robeson Fund for Independent Media/Funding Exchange
