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| Turning Tide Productions PO Box 864 Wendell, MA 01379 |
|
Tel: |
800-557-6414 978-544-8313 978-544-9043 |
Excerpt Running Time: 12:20
"America's education strategy — promoting innovation and excellence in America's schools. One of the places where much of that innovation occurs is in our most effective charter schools. These are public schools founded by parents, teachers, and civic or community organizations with broad leeway to innovate.
So today, I'm issuing a challenge to educators and lawmakers, parents and teachers alike: Let us all make turning around our schools our collective responsibility as Americans."
– President Barack Obama, March 10, 2009
BEATING THE ODDS takes a look a what is perhaps the leading civil rights issue of our time: the stark achievement gap between public schools in U.S. cities and those in affluent suburbs. It is a disturbing fact that too many urban schools, which serve mostly students of color, suffer from low test scores, unsafe environments, and high dropout rates.
Over a year in production, this two-hour high-definition television documentary, directed by nationally acclaimed filmmaker Robbie Leppzer, takes us inside five high-performing urban charter schools in and around Boston, Massachusetts. These schools serve mostly low-income, Black and Latino students, and set records for achievement and send the vast majority of their students on to college. Through interviews with students, teachers, and school leaders, as well as footage of classrooms and school events, we learn first hand what makes these schools so successful.
Directed, Produced, Photographed and Edited By Robbie Leppzer.
A Turning Tide Production.
Produced in collaboration with Massachusetts Charter Public School Association.
For more information about charter schools, visit: www.masscharterschools.org
About The Filmmaker
Robbie Leppzer is an award-winning independent documentary videographer, director/producer, and editor with thirty years experience producing over thirty independent film, video, and public radio documentaries for national and international distribution. His critically acclaimed works about contemporary social issues and multicultural themes have been broadcast globally by CNN International and broadcast nationally in the United States and Canada by PBS, CNN, Cinemax, Sundance Channel, HDNet, Black Entertainment Television, The Learning Channel, Link TV, Free Speech TV, National Public Radio, Pacifica Radio and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
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