JUSTICE MATTERS, DIVISION & DEBATE

Backpack Full of Cash

SARAH MONDALE
Co-produced by Vera Aronow
USA, 2017
95 minutes, Color
Official website

In Person: Director Sarah Mondale and Co-Producer Vera Aronow

Before the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Director Sarah Mondale and Co-producer Vera Aronow couldn't have known how aptly their documentary would function as a follow-up to Congressional hearings for Education Secretary, with their discussion of charter schools, vouchers, and the general trend toward the privatization of public education in our country. Backpack Full of Cash lays out the case for public education being the civil rights issue of our time. The rucksack of the title is what charter investors say lucky children in failing systems will carry to their school of "choice"; it's stuffed with public moneys drained out of school systems, ensuring the schools' failure for the vast majority of students. The film focuses on the Philadelphia schools and some genuine heroes, including the principals and teachers who carry on with less and less, activist parents, and most heartening, students on the barricades of the fight for their own education.—Judy Bloch