SCHOOL: The Story of American Public Education
THE LANDMARK PBS SERIES NARRATED BY MERYL STREEP OFFERS AN UNPRECEDENTED PORTRAIT OF OUR GREAT NATIONAL EXPERIMENT.
Synopsis
SCHOOL is a dramatic four-hour documentary series that chronicles the development of our nation’s public education system from Colonial times to the 21st century. Presented on PBS by KCET/Hollywood and narrated by Academy Award winner Meryl Streep, SCHOOL recaptures the idealism of the early advocates of public education and continues with an unflinching look at the experiments and challenges in classrooms today.
An award-winning SCHOOL companion volume is published by Beacon Press.
Directed by Sarah Mondale
Produced by Sarah B. Patton and Sarah Mondale
Edited by Marian Hunter
Narrated by: Meryl Streep
School Series
EPISODE 1: THE COMMON SCHOOL (1770 - 1789)
After the Revolution, a newly independent America faced a daunting challenge: how to build a united nation out of 13 colonies with little in common. Many citizens believed that education held the key.
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EPISODE 2: AS AMERICAN AS PUBLIC SCHOOL (1900-1950)
This film tells the dramatic story of how massive immigration, child labor laws, and the explosive growth of cities fueled school attendance and transformed public education.
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EPISODE 3: EQUALITY (1950-1980)
This film chronicles the tumultuous era when public schools became a major battleground in the fight for equality for minorities and women.
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EPISODE 4: THE BOTTOM LINE (1980 - 2000S)
In 1983, A Nation at Risk, a report launched by the Reagan Administration, shattered public confidence in America’s schools, sparking a new wave of free market education reform.
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Praise for School
SCREENINGS AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
SCHOOL is considered a “must see” in universities and schools of education. Through an extensive nationwide outreach campaign, the series has also been screened by hundreds of community groups, PTAs, professional organizations, museums, libraries and others, sparking discussions with local stakeholders. Filmmaker appearances available upon request.
On Screen Personalities
DAVID TYACK
Author of The One Best System and Tinkering Toward Utopia, Tyack was a preeminent historian of American education at Stanford University.
JAMES ANDERSON
James Anderson is dean of the College of Education at the University of Illinois and author whose work includes The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935.
DIANE RAVITCH
Diane Ravitch is an historian and former U.S. Asst. Secretary of Education whose recent books include The Death and Life of the Great American School System.
CARL KAESTLE
Carl Kaestle is a distinguished Professor Emeritus at Brown University. His books include Pillars of the Republic: Common Schools and American Society.
NICK LEMAN
Nick Leman is Dean Emeritus of the Faculty at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1999.
BEL KAUFMAN
Bel Kaufman was an American teacher and author, well known for writing the bestselling 1964 novel Up the Down Staircase.
LINDA BROWN THOMPSON
Linda Brown Thompson was a school girl in Topeka, KS whose lawsuit against school segregation led to the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision, Brown v. Board of Education
JULIAN NAVA
Professor Emeritus of History at California State University and former ambassador to Mexico. He lectures widely about multicultural education.
KATHRYN KISH SKLAR
Kathryn Kish Sklar is an historian, author and professor whose work focuses on the history of women's participation in social movements.
LARRY CUBAN
Professor of Education at Stanford University and former school superintendent whose books include Tinkering Towards Utopia (with David Tyack).
VANESSA SIDDLE WALKER
Vanessa Siddle Walker is a professor of African-American Educational Studies whose books include Their Highest Potential: An African American School Community in the Segregated South.
ALFRED KAZIN
Alfred Kazin was an American writer and literary critic whose best known work is A Walker in the City (1951) which depicts the immigrant experience in early twentieth century America.
On The Set of "School"
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
