A new two-hour special by Dan Rather looks at the (many) shortcomings of Detroit's public schools. Let's hope it looks at some solutions, too.
On the heels of dismal data about Detroit's literacy rate and the ongoing saga over the closing of half the city's schools comes "A National Disgrace" a two-hour special on education in the Motor City from "Dan Rather Reports." Rather spent a year and a half filming students, parents, teachers, administrators, and school board members in the Detroit Public Schools.
There are several preview clips available on the program's site profiling the decline of the schools, the impact the cycle of poverty has on the community, and the inept decisions made by adults in charge, but the above video, which shows a crying student, is especially heartbreaking. In it, the student describes how "people think that the children from Detroit public schools are stupid and brutish, because of what they see on television. And it's not to true. We want to learn."
The program airs on Tuesday, May 10 on HDNet. Let's hope the special moves beyond the educational equivalent of poverty porn and also profiles some of the solutions happening in the city's public schools.
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