Video Analysis: American Teacher

American Teacher Film Analysis

As Nelson Mendella once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” An excellent educational system has always been regarded as a fundamental component for a strong democracy. Today, however, America’s public school system is rapidly deteriorating, with those attending schools in urban districts suffering the greatest of the repercussions (Carey). That said the debate concerning what can be done to improve the educational system has been prominent in the United States for decades. In spite of the amount of attention and money invested into the issue, little progress and improvement is evident. One conclusion that has arisen from the debate however is that there is a need for better teachers. Although research has proven that a great teacher is an imperative factor in a child’s future success, America’s teachers are incredibly underpaid and often unappreciated–receiving criticisms left and right for why America’s public schools are in the condition that they are (Carey). Vanessa Roth’s “American Teacher” portrays the disturbing truths of today’s teachers, the trouble of attracting qualified educators, and why the majority of America’s greatest and most qualified teachers are abandoning the classrooms and turning to alternate professions. Is there hope for American education? The filmmakers of “American Teacher” believe that there is, but only if Americans are able to disregard this misconceived notion that teachers are the number one public enemy of the education system. Instead, teachers must be considered dutiful “public servants” who are there to cater to the children and transform them into good and able citizens well adjusted for this democratic society (Turan).

The renowned documentary “American Teacher” was created by the Teacher Salary Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness on the working conditions of public schools throughout the country. The project began with the publication of Teachers Have It Easy: The Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of America’s Teachers, a hard-hitting exposé on the struggles educators endure, retaliating against Fox News commentators who claim that the country’s public schoolteachers are merely “public servants who are only serving themselves” (Harvey). Since the project’s creation, supporters–ranging from concerned parents and teachers to large foundations, such as the Isabelle Allende Foundation–of education reform have contributed greatly to the movement in hopes to see positive change made in the public school system. The film addresses the hot-button problems in education reform: how to not only find, but maintain capable teachers as well. Experts in the field have argued that it is an absolutely imperative thing a school must do to sustain and improve student achievement levels (Turan). The staggering statistics presented in the film concerning our serious deficit of qualified teachers and our inability to keep those that are qualified in the field exemplified this problem further. For example, approximately 1.8 million teachers will be eligible for retirement in the next ten years (Turan). Moreover, an astounding 20% of teachers in urban districts quit every year, while reportedly 46% of new teachers leave before their fifth year—a turnover that costs an estimated $7.34 billion each year for school districts (Turan). The question has evolved from “Where are all the good teachers?” into “Where are all the good teachers going?”  Perhaps most importantly, the filmmakers question, is “Why are all the good teachers going?”

Real wages for teachers have been in a thirty-year decline, the filmmakers argue, which has led to a weakening in teacher effectiveness. According to Professor Linda Darling-Hammond, the low teacher salaries are accredited to the recruitment and prevalence of female teachers in the profession. The common belief during the early to mid twentieth century was that women are to be supported by their husbands. Thus the belief was that their teaching wages would be a mere supplementary income that did not need be very high. This has had terrible repercussions in that by decreasing teacher salaries, fewer qualified candidates seek out careers in education (Roth).  By the 1970s and 1980s, the reduced quality of teachers was exemplified through the low academic performances of students in the United States (Carey).  Increased salaries, the filmmaker’s maintain, would alleviate the damage done. To depict this, the film introduces you to four principal characters—Erik Benner, Jonathan Dearman, Jamie Fidler, and Rhena Jasey—whose lives and careers are closely portrayed over the course of several years. These characters, through their personal stories and recollections of teaching, have inadvertently provided great insight into the lives of the 3.2 million teachers in the country (Turan).

In spite of the vast differences in backgrounds, sexes, races, geographical locations, and departments in which they teach, there is one underlying similarity between all of the teachers—the insufficient salaries involved in the teaching profession. Erik Benner is a middle-school history teacher and coach at Trinity Springs Middle School in Keller, Texas. He is also one of the few men remaining in the profession, where the decline of male teachers has allegedly been dropping steadily from 34% in 1970 to a staggering low of 16% in 2011 (Turan). Erik confesses to viewers his love for teaching and coaching, however that his $54,000 annual salary is not sufficient enough to support the needs of his family. Subsequently, Erik was forced to take an additional job. Erik comes to symbolize the two-thirds of teachers in America who are also forced to take up second and third jobs.

Erik discusses the time demand of teaching and coaching at length, which contradicts what many people presume are the regular work hours of teachers. The filmmakers weave in an animation that involves the actual number of hours teachers work per week, which often exceeds sixty-five hours (Turan).

Furthermore, the documentary introduces you to a character by the name of Jonathan Dearman. Mr. Dearman reminisces on his time teaching at Leadership High School in San Francisco, California. As an African American male (only 35% of teachers are African American) he finds the issues surrounding the urban schools—which are primarily minority—particularly disturbing (Harvey). The producers included interviews with former students and peers of Mr. Dearman who speak of this beloved teacher with utmost respect and admiration. Unsurprisingly, the two students chosen to provide commentaries were incredibly successful academically: a law student and a graduate of UC Berkley. The producers deliberately chose these two student success stories to further persuade the viewers of the importance of a good teacher, such as Mr. Dearman. Loran Simon, one of the former students of Dearman and a current law student at the University of San Francisco considered Mr. Dearman “a pillar of Leadership High school.” Mr. Dearman ultimately left behind his life at Leadership and took over the family business in real estate sales where the filmmakers shot him in his new office showing around a client. They contrasted this image with a rather sad looking school that seems void of life and deplete of happiness. He is one of the many teachers who, despite being good at his job, has to make a sacrifice to support himself financially. This only contributes to the already bleak status of inner-city schools.

The viewers are also introduced to Jamie Fidler, a first-grade teacher at Philip Livingston School in Brooklyn, New York. Ms. Fidler reports how she annually spends approximately $3,000 of her own money on classroom supplies that should be supplemented by the school. Jamie Fidler is incredibly concerned with this, as she not only serves as the primary source of income for her family, however has a newborn child. The filmmakers deliberately chose a scene of Jamie Fidler frantically trying to find a place that she can pump her breast milk. It truly tugged at the hearts of the film’s viewers as this woman had just given birth six weeks ago and cannot be with her baby. Instead of taking care of her newborn, she is taking care of twenty children that are not her own. The strain of work is indirectly affecting the lives of teachers’ families, to the point that teachers need to essentially choose between their professions and their respective families.

Lastly, there is Rhena Jasey. Ms. Jasey earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and two master’s degrees. She recalls her friends’ and colleagues’ reactions when she told them of her decision to enter the teaching profession. She got responses that usually entailed, “You went to Harvard!” and “You should be a doctor or a lawyer.” In spite of her desire to make a difference by educating the youth, Rhena found that the lack of salary made it incredibly difficult to stay at Seth Boyden Elementary School in Maplewood, New Jersey. Although she loves her students and “thinks about them everyday” she found the offer from TEP Charter School in Washington Heights, New York City far too compelling with a starting salary of $125,000 per year. Teachers cannot afford to take low-paying public school jobs, robbing children in those schools of effective, well-educated teachers. Overall, the combined testimonies of these four teachers offers a very grim outlook for the future of our public education system and our children.

Ninive Calegari, one of the co-producers of the film, said in an interview that she wanted to create a film that exposed not only the troubles, but also the ludicrousness teachers face on a day-to-day basis. Absurdities that include (but are not limited to) buying their own supplies for the classroom or having to hold down second jobs to support themselves, all the while trying to disprove the old saying: for those who can’t do, teach (Harvey). I would have to commend her on this, because the film painted a vivid portrait of the poor conditions and obstacles teachers in America must endure. While I do agree that teachers do face a great deal of criticism and are in many respects underpaid, I do not believe that increasing teaching wages, or rather, improving the working conditions for teachers is the sole solution to school reform. Critics of the film have argued that the film primarily focuses on pay as if it is the only factor plaguing educational dysfunction, yet very little is said about student absences, disengaged parents, among other pressing issues (Willmore). Even if it were, with consideration to the current political debate over teacher salary reform, the film never specifically addresses how to finance these increased salaries. The film has also been criticized for presuming that teaching is the most vital of the undercompensated jobs, while farmers, social workers, and others might disagree (Willmore).

Moreover, as made evident by the teachers featured in the film, they all shared similar sentiments about “knowing” they were meant to be teachers. Teaching is a challenging and demanding profession that attracts a very particular type of person. This “type” of person is generally characterized by his or her ability to be patient, compassionate, and must have some sort of liking of children. Unfortunately, not everyone in this world fits this particular “type” and consequently the selection pool of teachers (let alone qualified) is already a relatively small proportion of the population. Additionally, I was fairly confused in respect to the ambiguity of what the filmmakers defined as a “good teacher.” Is it one who forms strong bonds with his students like Mr. Dearman? Or is it someone who is an incredibly intelligent Ivy School graduate, such as Ms. Jasey? They also fail, critics argue, to mention how one should properly assess a teacher and what distinguishes a teacher from being either “good” or “bad.”  They failed to mention that the current method of assessing the success of a teacher has created a climate of fear within the schools (Ravitch). In fact, the method of assessment has actually given way to school scandals and reported incidents involving school officials changing incorrect answers on tests to raise their students’ scores (Ravitch).

WORKS CITED

Carey, Kevin. “An Admirable Move From the Country’s Biggest Teachers’ Union (Yes, You Read That Correctly).” The New Republic, July 11, 2011. http://www.newrepublic.com/article/politics/91632/teachers-education-nea-obama-convention.

Harvey, Dennis. “» American Teacher.” Variety, n.d. http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117945325/.

Ravitch, Diane. The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education. First Trade Paper Edition, Revised and Expanded. Basic Books, 2011.

Roth, Vanessa, and Brian McGinn. American Teacher. Documentary, Biography, History, News, 2011.

Turan, Kenneth. “What the ‘American Teacher’ Has to Teach Us.” Los Angeles Times, September 30, 2011. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/sep/30/entertainment/la-et-american-teacher-20110930.

Willmore, Alison. “American Teacher.” AV Club, n.d. http://www.avclub.com/articles/american-teacher,62512/.

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