The crisis in U.S. public education is the source for the documentary The Lottery which chronicles four families from Harlem and the Bronx seeking a coveted spot in the city’s charter school system.
The Lottery delves into the U.S. education system and shines its spotlight on crumbing U.S. schools and four families who keenly realize that a good education is their children’s only ticket out of a life of crime, poverty and being destitute. They also understand the statistic that 58-percent of African American fourth-graders are illiterate and that is with a kindergarten through third grade education.
We are proud to present an exclusive clip from The Lottery and give our readers unparalleled access into the documentary that, as of today, is one of 15 documentaries still in contention for the coveted Oscar statue for Best Documentary.
Director Madeleine Sackler hoped to create a discussion in the country about the state of our schools and how the most basic of rights in America — that of a good education — has become akin to winning the lottery in terms of what school a child is lucky or unlucky enough to attend.
“The four families in The Lottery all have the same goal for their children: A high-quality education that will provide them with the opportunity for a better future,” Sackler said. “If we continue to be complacent about schools that are failing, and if we don’t make it possible for excellent schools to grow, we are not only sentencing the most disadvantaged in our communities to devastating consequences, we are putting the future of the country at risk. The Lottery makes the case that any child can succeed.”
The four families in The Lottery entered their kids in a 2009 charter school lottery to attend the city’s charter schools in an effort to escape the sometimes lacking public New York school system.
The place of charter schools in our society has been a hot-button topic of debate in the last several presidential campaigns. The discussion of whether charter schools are taking away much needed dollars from traditional public schools that are already falling behind is explored in The Lottery.
The Lottery is both topical and timely and a treasured opportunity for the entire nation to come to grips with the educational system in America and how to determine its future direction.
The Lottery exclusive clip
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