Georgia Advocates Helpings Kids Towards "Making the Grade"

Documentaries about our education system and much-needed education reforms have been all the rage over the past few years.  With Waiting for "Superman" in 2010 and The Experiment, which profiles the New Orleans school system post-Hurricane Katrina, in 2011, these films inform and inspire people to get involved in fixing our schools.

And now Georgia has joined the club of filmmakers, as filmmakers in the Peach State just finished a movie that documents education reform initiatives there.

Making the Grade, a short documentary premiering in multiple Georgia locations on January 5, tells of the educational realities - as well as the options - in a state home to nearly 10,000 private school choice students.

 

From traditional public schools to charter schools, as well as Georgia’s two private school choice programs, Making the Grade demonstrates the realities of the state's struggling education system:

• 61,000 Georgia students failed to graduate in 2010—that’s enough students to fill the Georgia Dome. 
• Georgia ranks 46th in nation based on graduation rates. 
• Only three out of every 10 students is proficient in math and reading.

But leaders, parents, and advocates in Georgia also highlight the great opportunities in the state including private school choice.

Parent Heather Patton talks about how the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship has allowed her son, Jackson, to thrive in a private school that specializes in handling Jackson’s autism.

With appearances by Governor Nathan Deal, Representative Alisha Thomas Morgan (D), and many more, this film shows what the difference school choice can make in Georgia. 

Check out the Making the Grade website for more information about this film and locations for screenings.

 http://www.makingthegrademovie.com/

- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MSG