Purpose
The purpose of Rise Above the Mark, narrated by Peter Coyote, is to educate the general public about the “corporate takeover” of Indiana public schools and what parents, community members and educators can do to protect their local public schools. Legislators are calling the shots and putting public schools in an ever-shrinking box. WLCSC Board of School Trustees and Superintendent of Schools, Rocky Killion, want to secure resources and legislative relief necessary to achieve the school district’s mission of creating a world-class educational system for all children. The school district’s strategic plan will introduce a model of education that puts decision making back into the hands of local communities and public school teachers, rather than leaving it in the hands of legislators and ultimately lining the pockets of corporations.
Documentary Themes
The major participants whose interviews appear in the documentary address the following:
- The corporate takeover of public schools and diversion of public funds to private entities
- The dismantling of public schools disguised as “school choice” and “school vouchers”
- The adverse impact standardized testing and using test scores to evaluate teachers is having on the teaching profession and public school students
- The money grab of private companies that benefit from the so-called reform, which are not required to play by the same rules as public schools
- The research on the best education systems in the world and what we can learn from them
- A blueprint for parent, community member and educator involvement in the “reform”
- A request for support and resources to achieve our school district’s mission which is to engage our students in a world-class educational experience that prepares them to be well- rounded, innovative, creative, productive, and adaptive citizens who will shape our global society
Major Participants
Rise Above The Mark is proud to have the support of the following experts and supporters of public education who appear in the documentary:
- Dr. Diane Ravitch – former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education and Education Historian
- Dr. Marc Tucker – President and CEO of the National Center on Education and the Economy
- Dr. Pasi Sahlberg – Director General of National Centre for International Mobility and Cooperation in the Ministry of Education in Helsinki, Finland
- Mr. Jamie Vollmer – Author, speaker and supporter of public schools - former CEO of the Great Midwestern Ice Cream Company and former critic of public schools.
- Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond – Charles Ducommun Professor of Education, Stanford University
- Mr. Peter Coyote – Award winning actor and narrator, appearing in more than 100 films and narrated over 165 documentaries