Students during a meeting at the guidance office at Akins High School in Austin, Texas, April 4, 2013. (Photo: Ben Sklar / The New York Times)Ever since the emergence of talking pictures, schools have been a major subject of both Hollywood movies and documentary films. One consistent theme of Hollywood portrayals of schools - from
Blackboard Jungle (1955),
Up the Down Staircase (1967) and
Stand and Deliver (1988) to
Mr. Holland's Opus (1995),
October Sky (1999) and
Freedom Writers (2007) - has been the idealistic teacher fighting to serve his and her students against overwhelming odds, including uncaring administrators, cynical colleagues, a stultifying required curriculum that crushes the spirit of teachers and students alike, dilapidated conditions, budget cuts, unruly and hostile students, or students suffering from the symptoms of poverty or neglect. The underlying message is that while occasionally a rare teacher can light a spark in a few students, our public schools are failing most of the students they are supposed to serve. Most documentaries about education - from Frederick Wiseman's
High 
