The Lottery (2010)

The biggest film star of 2010 might not be Colin Firth or Natalie Portman, but Jeffrey Canada, the CEO of Harlem Children’s Zone, a successful charter school in New York City. Canada is one of the “stars” of not one but two feature documentary films shortlisted for Oscar consideration this year. The education visionary has gained national fame in recent weeks after hitting the talk show circuit to assist rock-star documentarian Davis Guggenheim promote “Waiting For Superman,” a film who’s thesis is that charter schools are the savior of American education. But he first appeared in THE LOTTERY, a documentary by Madeline Sackler sneaked into a much more limited amount of theatres this past summer.

And while the marketing of both films is noticeably different, the subject matter is identical. Perhaps this is why the Academy, in narrowing its potential doc nominees to 15, couldn’t distinguish between the two and included both, at the expense of other lauded films like “Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work.”

I have not yet seen “Waiting For Superman.” I plan to, but as a teacher myself I have been slowly preparing myself for what I expect will be an angry reaction to the film’s publicly one-sided look at education. Instead, I am beginning with THE LOTTERY, which is currently streaming on Netflix to subscribers. THE LOTTERY focuses more specifically on a moment that has been getting a lot of attention in the Guggenheim film, the moment when families hear the verdict rendered by a random lottery drawing used to determine which students will gain entry into selective charter schools in what is billed as a life-or-death scenario.

Clearly, it’s difficult for me, as an educator, to sideline my own biases as I attempt to review a film like this. Fortunately, it’s fair play, as THE LOTTERY makes little attempt to see things from both side, either. I would almost go so far as to say that the film, with just a few tweaks, could be used as a commercial for a few charter schools in the New York City area.

Still, facts are facts. And Sackler begins her film with the sobering statistic that 58% of fourth grade students who are African-American are functionally illiterate. You can argue the root of the problem or debate the solution, but you can’t argue the problem itself. She tells us that 365,000 kids in America are on waiting lists to get into charter schools, no shock when you understand that only four of New York City’s public elementary schools have more than half of their students reading at or above grade level. And you can’t disagree with Newark Mayor Cory Booker when he says that “a child’s destiny should not be determined by the pull of a draw.” You can also argue that NYC public schools are almost breeding grounds for future penitentiary inmates more than future college students, and to say that this is sickening in 21^st Century America is a gross understatement; it’s a human rights violation. Sackler certainly knows this, but she doesn’t work her hardest to explore this from both sides equally.

One scene in THE LOTTERY did break my heart and move me almost to the point of tears, but for different reasons. Not quite halfway through the film, Sackler takes us inside a community hearing where community parents are at odds over allowing a Harlem Success Academy charter school to take up residence in a public school building. Here, Sackler DOES show both sides. One parent in support of the charter schools tells her neighbors that the CEO of the charter school network, Eva Moskowitz, is “our Obama.” Her words are offset by screaming adversaries who ridiculously compare the coming of charter schools to General Schwartzkopf invading Kuwait. And standing right next to these ridiculous, hate-spewing parents are their children, often even holding their parents’ hands as they listen to them shout fighting words into a microphone. It’s another sad example of how the focus of education is being shifted away from the kids. I am devastated by the notion that these parents, whatever they believe, would parade their children around as pawns for leverage.

But Sackler is guilty of the same. Of all the potential charter school families awaiting a positive outcome in the impending lottery, she selects a family with a deaf mother and another with a West African immigrant whose wife and other son are still back in Africa. The choices feel overtly calculated and manipulative. Even a family in a two-parent, low-income home awaits the same dramatic fate as these families, and their chances are equally random and harrowing. Instead, we are clobbered into a sense of sadness and shame in a move by Sackler that backfires as it borders on propaganda.

If you’re a fan of charter schools and believe that public schools and urban areas cannot be reformed, you’ll find little to disagree with when you watch THE LOTTERY. Sackler follows one mother and son to a state penitentiary for a visit with the toddler’s father, footage that is clearly included as a cautionary tale to any parent who would have the misfortune of having to keep his or her child in the public schools.

There are things I don’t disagree with. One is Booker’s assertion that too many of us are “irrationally wed” to the way schools have always been run. I would also never pretend that these problems in education don’t exist or aren’t as severe as they’re presented here. To do so would be blind neglect. How could anyone possibly defend a school with a graduation rate of less than 30%?

I also admire the film on a technical level. It is well-shot, cleanly composed, and features an effective use of titling and subtitling throughout. I can see why it’s been identified as one of the best non-fiction films of the year.

But I’m looking forward to a documentary about the education crisis that truly represents the problem and its complexity from both sides. I’d like to hear about teacher unions that aren’t pure evil. I’d like to witness public school teachers who are talented, innovative and inspiring. I’d like to hear from teachers who aren’t just doing their work for their own personal glory (insert laugh here) but for the benefit and love of kids. THE LOTTERY thus lives up to its title in two ways. The viewer gets insight into the arbitrary selection process by which students gain entry into charter schools. And the viewer also receives background information on the subject that is as selective as the six balls in the lotto hopper that make it to the bottom rack to be called out.

All of this said, America’s broken education system is the non-fiction subject of the year, and that’s a good thing. But we’re still waiting for the film that tells us everything. THE LOTTERY does not. And I have my suspicions, from all I’ve heard, that “Waiting For Superman” doesn’t, either.

2.0 out of 4