Documentary focusing on school funding, privatization at Pellissippi on Thursday

Posted at 4:21 am November 9, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

The League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge is urging members interested in school choice to attend a documentary at Pellissippi State Community College in Hardin Valley on Thursday.

The documentary is titled “Backpack Full of Cash.” It’s narrated by Matt Damon, and it’s described in an event flyer as a film “exploring the real cost of privatizing America’s public schools.”

In the United States, $600 billion per year is spent to educate children, a fact “near and dear” to proponents of privatizing, according to information provided by Kay Moss.

Filmed during the 2013-2014 school year in Nashville, New Orleans, Philadelphia, and other cities, the feature-length documentary narrated by Damon concentrates on how privatization is devastating public school funding, the information said.

Director Sarah Mondale, a former public school teacher now associated with Stone Lantern Films, and documentary producer Vera Aronow from Turnstone Productions have resourced a case for revitalizing our public schools, the information said.

“They cameo Union City, New Jersey, Public Schools as a highly successful system where poor students are getting a quality education without vouchers or charters,” the information said. “They contrast this system with several other public education systems which are starved of resources. They can do little more than hang in the balance, a precarious position for one of the last democratic institutions in this country. And they deliver a cautionary narrative of how funding cuts and privatization have devastating effects on the children who must rely on those public schools.”

The Knoxville/Knox County League of Women Voters has arranged three showings of “Backpack Full of Cash.” The first is at Pellissippi State Community College, Goins Building Auditorium, at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, November 9. Oak Ridgers are urged to attend at this convenient location, the League of Women Voters said.

The other two showings will be at West High School on Tuesday, November 14, and at Gresham Middle School on Thursday, November 16.

It’s free to the public, and there will be a question-and-answer session immediately after the film. See the flyer above for more information about the other two locations and additional sponsors.

For more information and updates, visit https://www.facebook.com/BackpackKnoxville.

This information from League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge.

If you appreciate our work, please consider subscribing. Besides helping us, your subscription will give you access to our premium content.

Most of our stories are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our members—advertisers, subscribers, and sponsors.

But some are premium content, available only to members. Those are in-depth, investigative, or exclusive stories that are available only on Oak Ridge Today. They generally require at least four hours to report, write, and publish.

You can subscribe for as little as $5 per month.

You can read more about your options here.

We currently offer five primary subscription options to readers, and they include benefits.

Basic

Basic monthly subscription ($5 per month)—access premium content
Basic annual subscription ($60 per year)—access premium content

Pro

Pro monthly subscription ($10 per month)—access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month
Pro annual subscription ($100 per year)—save $20 per year, access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month

Temporary

Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here.

If you prefer to send a check for a subscription or donation, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Thank you for your consideration and for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support.

We welcome comments, but we ask you to follow a few guidelines:

1) Please use your real name, including last name. Please also use a valid e-mail address.
2) Be civil. Don't insult others, attack their character, or get personal.
3) Stick to the issues.
4) No profanity.
5) Keep your comments to a reasonable length and to a reasonable number per article.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these guidelines. Comments held for review, usually from those posting for the first time, may not post if they violate these guidelines. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you also for reading Oak Ridge Today and for participating in the discussion.

More information is available here.