April 30, 2010 06:45PM EDT

Tribeca Talks: The Lottery

Note: This piece was first published as coverage of the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival. The Lottery is now available on DVD.



The Lottery is a winner. The feature length documentary hones in on four families who are vying for their children to win spots in the charter school lottery for Harlem Success Academy. The four tykes, Eddie Jr., Ameenah, Christian, and George Jr., deserve a seat in the classroom. The problem is that all four kids live in low performing school zones in the Bronx and Harlem.
     
As if the heart-wrenching game of musical chairs doesn't provide enough tension, the astute director Madeline Sackler delves into the politics, personalities, and players involved in the polarizing issue of education reform. Interlaced into footage from education reform hearings, are "talking head" type interviews with head honchos, including Newark, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker, New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, and the Head of Harlem Success Academy, Eva Moskowitz.
     
The film's heart lies in its four stars who are equally bright, utterly adorable, and hungry to learn. Ameenah is a highly verbal, vivacious kid, and lives with her dedicated, dynamic, deaf single mother. Eric Jr. comes from an intact, loving nuclear family, and his younger brother will soon be facing the same quandary come kindergarten. Christian, who is earnest and perseverant, lives with his father, a recent immigrant, while his mother and brother are embroiled in immigration issues back home. George Jr., an imaginative, energetic, and sharp kid lives with his single mother, as his father is in jail for a crime he didn't commit. Luckily, his parents make every effort to ensure George Jr. sees his father as regularly as possible.
     
They are all African-American and, moreover, willing to do whatever it takes to provide their children with a sound education. Two of the families require public assistance, only a few completed high school and fewer attended college, and none of them want their children to face those hardships. Even if the achievement gap most severely affects disadvantaged children, the average American students aren't adequately prepared to compete in a global economy. Any parent can agree that no child's future should be determined by the luck of a lottery draw.
     
After the sold out screening, Sackler, Klein, Moskowitz, Harlem parent Karl Willingham, and Errol Louis from The New York Daily News, answered an outpouring of questions.

Many of the speeches, barely cloaked as questions, were aimed at Chancellor Klein, who oversees the largest public school system in the country. One audience member wanted to know if charter schools could hold up overtime. Klein noted that not all charter schools perform well. He praised the innovation and results of the Harlem Success Academy brand. "I don't think they're an experiment. The evidence is in." He also championed parents who think with their feet and urged people to vote on whether they want more charter school options.
     
It wasn't just the audience giving Klein heat. Moscovitz criticized the public schools, reflecting on her own challenges in as a parent in contacting teachers and school administrators. She spoke about how Harlem Success Academy stresses the partnership between the staff and parents as a cornerstone of the school's philosophy. She said, "every parent has every cell phone number of our staff. 1400 parents have my cell phone number." As if on cue, teachers, and parents from Harlem Success Academy and Harlem Children's Zone, cheered for Moscovitz.
          
The evening belonged to education crusaders. A CEO of a charter school in Hartford, Connecticut spoke about how painful it was for him to hold a public lottery. He then brought the political discussion back to the heart of the issue—children—and said, "Madeline, your dad's very proud of you. He calls everyone to tell them about your movie."

---

The Lottery is now available on DVD.

Check out a review here.