Tag Archives: Flunked: The Movie

According to a report cited in the Los Angeles Times, 12 of the top-performing 15 schools in California that serve low-income students are charter schools (H/T Joanne Jacobs). Nearly all of them! Number 1 on the list is the American Indian Public Charter run by the amazing Ben Chavis: “These poor kids are doing well because we practice math and language arts,” [Chavis] said. “That’s it. It’s simple.” He insisted that it is easier to teach poor students than more affluent ones because they are more motivated to succeed. “It’s the opposite of what everybody says,” he said. “It’s easier to do it with the poor kids and the minority kids because they have nothing, so they should be the highest.” Asked why most educational researchers say the opposite, he said: “They’re liberal and lazy . . . and they see these kids as victims.” Ben Chavis and his students are among the leading stars of the award-winning Flunked documentary. As you can imagine from his remarkable can-do attitude, Chavis has succeeded where the naysaying bureaucrats in the traditional education system have not. Then you hear the ridiculous news that the school board in Memphis, Tennessee, has gone out of […]

Several months ago my friends at the Independence Institute hosted a showing of the brand new exciting education documentary Flunked: The Movie. An Independent Thinking episode with the movie’s producer Steve Maggi and our own Pam Benigno was aired that brought attention to public education reform success stories. Well, it appears the movie and its producer are really making the rounds from state to state. Blogger Bob Weeks followed up on the Kansas debut of Flunked by interviewing Steve Maggi. It’s a great read if you’re intrigued by the movie or looking for more information on ideas for reforming our public schools. And for many more resources on ideas for education reform, especially ideas specific to Colorado, remember to bookmark the Education Policy Center on your browser.

Last night my friends in the Education Policy Center hosted a get-together for teachers to eat, fellowship, and watch Flunked: The Movie. Afterwards, teachers discussed the themes and stories in the film, expressing a wide range of views. Besides the discussion, a lot of people stayed around for the ice cream sundaes. I wish I could have come just for that part, but the Education Policy Center staff has promised to save me some. Summer just wouldn’t be as good without ice cream. For those who weren’t able to make the movie and the event, here is some of what you missed: Information was given out about the Independence Institute’s teacher website (set to move to a new location soon). A representative from the Professional Association of Colorado Educators shared information about his group. An Independence Institute intern told teachers about the opportunity to take the Free People, Free Markets class. Teacher guests were given the chance to take home copies of some relevant Independence Institute publications – including one on Denver’s ProComp plan, and one on the national Tough Choices report. Finally, the Education Policy Center also made mention of the School Choice for Kids website and handed out […]

Did you miss the opportunity to come see the movie Flunked? Here’s your chance to do the next best thing: Click here to watch Flunked producer Steve Maggi and Education Policy Center Director Pam Benigno (the really nice lady who lets me write here) discuss some of the education success stories featured in the movie… and some Colorado examples, too. It’s the latest Independent Thinking with host Jon Caldara. If you’d rather watch the episode the old-fashioned way, it will be on KBDI Channel 12 this Tuesday (June 17) at 5 PM.

Roy Romer is the former governor of our state and leader of a national group that wants politicians to talk more about education. This very important man sat down with Berny Morson from the Rocky Mountain News to answer five questions. Here’s the very first thing Gov. Romer said: Since ’83, we’ve really made relatively little progress, we’ve really been static. The rest of the world has been going up very rapidly. Among 30 industrial nations, we’re 25th from the top in math. We’re 21st from the top in science. Other countries have made great progress. Poland, South Korea, Singapore, Finland, Canada – we simply have not kept pace with the progress in education worldwide. Graduation will occur in a couple of weeks, and nearly 1.2 million kids won’t graduate who should have graduated. We have a real crisis on our hands. A good reminder for people around Denver to come out this Wednesday, May 21, to see Flunked: The Movie. Gov. Romer might want to see the successful innovations featured in the film, innovations that offer hope to America’s public schools. Time is running out to sign up for this exciting, limited-space event.

Do you live around Denver? Are you concerned about educational opportunity in Colorado? Do you want to see real-world examples of what can be done to fix our current public education system? Then please save the date of Wednesday, May 21. The Independence Institute is sponsoring the Colorado debut of Flunked: The Movie, a 47-minute film that’s more exciting than your average documentary. Here’s a preview: To learn more, listen to an iVoices podcast interview with the producer of Flunked. If you are interested in coming to watch the film on May 21, go here to find out how to sign up.