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Friday, November 9, 2012

Jersey Jazzman: Jon Stewart, Brooklyn Castle, and the Importance of Teachers

Jersey Jazzman: Jon Stewart, Brooklyn Castle, and the Importance of Teachers:


Jon Stewart, Brooklyn Castle, and the Importance of Teachers

Valerie Strauss points us to Jon Stewart's interview last night with the director and one of the stars of Brooklyn Castle:
On “The Daily Show” Thursday night, Jon Stewart did a segment that focused on public education — the impact of budget cuts, how kids learn, teachers. This was all in his discussion with director Katie Dellamaggiore and student Pobo Efekoro about their documentary  film “Brooklyn Castle,” which details how budget cuts affected a highly successful chess program at a New York City middle school.
Stewart notes the illogic of axing the chess program, the heart of the school, while money for standardized tests was not in jeopardy because of the budget cuts. Efekoro, who was a student at the school, says: “The teachers were fabulous. A lot of my