''S-S-S-S-t...
''S-S-St...
''S-S-to...
''S-S-Stower-ry.''
(VIDEO GAME SOUND EFFECTS )
''Stower-ry.''
BOY: ''Story.''
Idiot.
(DIALING PHONE)
''S-tory.
''Put...the...
''...story in...
''...o...
''...o...''
Try it again.
(MUSIC PLAYING SOFTLY)
I can't.
Oh, no.
Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on.
Hey, bug.
It's time to wake up.
Mmm.
Let's go, we're Iate. Let's go.
-The new schooI doesn't care. -I care.
-One more bite. -I ate it.
That's why I bought you that 59.99 LeSportsac backpack...
...and I wiII take it away if we keep being Iate. Let's go.
Go, go, go, come on.
Look, what does that sign say? Go on, read that sign.
-It says ''stop.'' -MaIia.
Okay, what sound does that first Ietter make?
''Stop...
''...aggravating me.''
MaIia. Come on.
I got it, right?
Come on.
Come on. Go, go.
(CHATTERING)
Here you go.
I Iove you.
I Iove you, I Iove you.
I Iove you, bug.
Sorry we're Iate.
Good morning. I just have one question.
At MaIia's oId schooI, her teacher used to stay Iate sometimes after schooI
to heIp her a IittIe bit with her reading...
SchooI's over at 3.
For reaI?
Yeah, for reaI.
Okay.
TEACHER: Yesterday we were Iearning about nouns.
Today we'II be Iooking at verbs.
It's how we express an action, that's what verbs are for.
So,
in the sentence:
''The penguin dives into the sea.''
Where's the verb? The action word?
Anyone?
How 'bout it, TyIer? Wanna take a swing at it?
I'm not doin' this for me.
AII right, Iet's go back to anyone.
HART: Wait tiII you see the deaIs I got today.
BeautifuI Buick Rendezvous. This baby is Ioaded.
I'm pickin' her up today. We're gonna beg her oId schooI to give us a break on tuition.
She cannot stay in that cIass.
No, Liz, that's exactIy what I said to that crazy teacher.
(PHONE RINGING)
HoId on.
Hank Hart Auto.
Sure, I'II transfer you.
Yeah, no, and the principaI keeps bIowing me off over and over again.
Oh, God. I'm sorry, I gotta go. I gotta go. I'II caII you back. I gotta go.
Hank Hart Auto.
No, I'm sorry, ma'am, Mr. Hart is indisposed at the moment.
Excuse me, ma'am, wouId you pIease Iower your voice?
Oh, my boss can't taIk right now, so I'm a stupid cow?
You wanna taIk to my supervisor?
Okay. Sure, no probIem.
Oops, wrong button.
-Hey, Jamie. -Oh, Mr. Hart.
-Hey, Jamie, check this out. -Hey. Yes.
''We must be the change we wish to see.'' That's Gandhi.
And it's good for car saIes, it's good for Iife.
Boy, that IittIe guy reaIIy knew a thing or two, right?
Listen, I just wanted to taIk to you because Jan mentioned to me...
...that you might wanna cut back on my hours a IittIe bit.
I'm stiII behind here.
I compIeteIy understand. You're tryin' to run an effective business. I wanna heIp.
I can't stand her.
I can't. I can't.
We taIked about this, Breena. It's a Deborah-free zone for our own sanity.
Mmm-hmm. Yeah.
You know, in a way, I aImost admire her.
No ordinary deadbeat couId puII off the highest saIary
and the Iowest job performance in schooI history seven years running.
SeriousIy, Breena.
Except you're not getting her subIiterate kids that she passes on to me. Okay?
And I have to give them two years of teaching in one.
I know there's a Iot of Adams washouts, but stiII.
The onIy thing that the district does right is protect what it does wrong.
Can't teach your way out of a paper bag?
Your students can't even speII ''paper bag''? No probIem.
We'II just transfer them on to the next schooI, and the next.
And if aII eIse faiIs, weII, hey, there's Adams, where education goes to die.
Ahh!
It's my shrink's idea.
Every time I start obsessing about how bad it's getting, I just snap myseIf out of it.
-How is that workin' for ya? -(SCOFFS )
-(PHONE BUZZES ) -CaIIuses upon caIIuses.
Give me one of those things.
Uh-uh.
Oh. ReaIIy?
Good morning, Nona.
Office needs your attendance Iogs corrected.
Oh, Tim.
No use fightin' 'em on it.
Yeah. You have too many absents then they can't just pass them aIong.
Breakin' the Iaw for the Man.
That gives you a speciaI feeIing, doesn't it?
What?
Just gets to you, you know?
(MAN WHOOPING)
(UKULELE PLAYING)
TEACHER: Now 10 divided by 3
ALL: is 3.33
TEACHER: And straight on into infinity
Figure it out, don't listen to me
lt's knowledge
To get to college
Come on, come on
Now 50% of 1 10
Cut it in half, do it again
Double or nothing it's 55
And what percentage of you will arrive in college
ALL: You're all going to college
(TEACHER VOCALIZING)
Jazz hands! Jazz hands!
Hurry up! We gotta get to your oId schooI before the principaI Ieaves.
Come on! Come on, come on, come on.
You know we'd Iove to have MaIia back, but we can't give you any more aid.
Okay, so, tuition's five hundred, I'II pay you six.
But I'II pay it in instaIIments, Iike a 0% down, 3% financing kind of thing.
I know, you're trepidatious. But you're gonna make more money in the Iong run.
I'm sorry.
Sit down here for just one second, sweetie.
PIease, pIease. I'm begging you. I'm on my hands and knees.
She was doin' aII right with you guys.
This new schooI can't do anything about the dysIexia.
And I know it's onIy been a short time.
I can feeI it changing her. It's making her hard.
And the schooI's faiIing.
It is. They put it onIine now. You can read it. They got an F. An F.
There's the Rosa Parks Charter. They have a Iottery coming up soon.
I know, but they got Iike 500 peopIe going for three sIots.
-WeII, perhaps another schooI, then. -You're acting Iike I got a choice here.
It's not personaI.
For you!
(EXHALES )
-Let's get outta here. -Okay.
MaIia, don't worry. I just gotta get you into that other second grade cIass.
(GROANS )
You Iook nice, Mrs. AIberts.
Yeah. First bIack Stepford wife.
(PHONE RINGING)
Oh, don't answer that. It's CharIes. New boss, I'm Iate.
Cody, come on. You remember, we worked on this. AII right?
You take this number here and this number.
You can do it, come on. I know you can.
(PHONE RINGING)
AII right...
Just teII him I'm gonna be Iate.
Good night, Cody.
AIberts residence.
CIay, VaIerie, Nona.
-So nice to meet you. -Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you.
I ordered you the coq au vin since you were Iate.
Thank you.
So CharIes teIIs us you teach in the HiII District.
Now, is that the Rosa Parks Charter that NPR is so gaga over?
I teach at Adams.
When we first moved here, Nona made it a point to find the schooI most in need.
That is so admirabIe.
CHARLES: Very ideaIistic, she was.
WeII, I guess we both were. I stiII wanted to design then.
So we wouId stay up aII night Iong pIanning the schooIs
that I wouId buiId for her to run.
We were so young.
Now the thought of aII that just makes me wanna take a nap.
(CHUCKLING)
You're gonna rip it!
I don't care! Now give it!
-Let go! It's mine! -DEBORAH: Take your seats.
Everybody, sit down now.
Stop. You're gonna rip it!
(RIPPING)
-(GASPING) -DEBORAH: AII right, that's it.
Come on, sit down. Everybody sit down.
You both take your seats.
Oh, no.
AII right. Just give me the backpack.
-She ruined it. -Everybody sit down.
Sit down.
-No. Stop Iaughing. -DEBORAH: CaIm down.
Stop!
Give it to me.
She tore my backpack!
Give me the backpack and sit down.
Don't be such a drama queen, MaIia. Lord.
JAMIE: That's not true, there's nothing you could do.
You could put her in the other class.
I can't do that! As I've toId you in one of our Iast six conversations...
Yeah?
...there are Iaws about the number of kids you can have in a cIass.
So switch her with another kid.
Or, so, get rid of this teacher.
The whoIe schooI knows she's got a track history of compIaints against her.
Oh, no, yes, you can't! Right?
'Cause she's tenurized. Right?
Yes, aIong with a sIew of other things speIIed out in her 600 page contract.
Right.
Anyway, Iook at what she's deaIin' with. 30 kids who hate schooI.
Whose fauIt is that?
It's not aII hers. Every kid can't rise to the top, I'm afraid.
You're afraid?
Have you heard about those mothers that Iift one-ton trucks off their babies?
They're nothing compared to me.
No.
-Excuse me? -He's not going into a remediaI cIassroom.
But he's been acting out, and he did test beIow the norm.
He tested borderIine. He's been goin' through things at home.
I'II keep working with him.
If I may, I think that might contribute to the acting out.
Do you?
Nona, this is not a referendum on you.
Maybe we aII just need to back off Cody a bit.
Test resuIts are test resuIts.
-HoId up for a second. -Can't.
Rosa Parks got a Iottery. I'm gonna beg to get him in. PIay the teacher card.
First of aII, a new schooI is not gonna stop him from acting out.
Why do you think he's acting out?
HonestIy? Because you can't not be a teacher to him.
You don't think it's 'cause of what's happening at home?
You are aII over him aII the time.
And I know why.
But at some point, you have to Iet go.
Nona.
Nona !
Hi.
This is where I'm going?
I hope so.
We need some Iuck.
Maybe I shouId practice my reading. They'II want me if my reading's good.
Let's go find somepIace to sit.
Excuse me.
I'm trying to get my son in the Iottery.
It's too Iate. I'm sorry.
PIease, I'm a teacher. Is there anyone I couId taIk to?
You can try the principaI. He's right over there. Do you see him?
How's it going poaching my teachers?
Oh, pIease. We don't poach, we protect.
Now, that's a good Iine. You oughta use it more often. Oh, I forgot, you aIready do.
Oh, here we go, union bashing.
Here's a IittIe secret: you can criticize and support unions.
Hey. How'd it go with your brother?
Oh, it was great. He won, 3 to 2.
AImost as good as you.
But you don't support us, you know? You shut us out.
Yeah, because my teachers want their freedom.
To be overworked? To be fired at any time for any reason?
No, freedom to put in extra time with their kids.
You know, freedom to stay after schooI if they want.
Good Iuck to you.
But do they want it, or are they too scared to say no?
You forget I was a teacher once.
No. I don't forget.
You were one of the greats.
Mr. Thompson. My name is Nona AIberts.
I'II have to taIk to you afterwards.
Good evening, parents.
Here's your charm. Put it in your right hand.
In our country,
one chiId out of every four
grows up not knowing how to read properIy.
Let me ask you
does that make you mad?
ALL: Yes!
Good, because I want you to be mad.
We have 40 spaces for you in our schooI.
So that means 400 of you are going to have to go out there
and fight for something better.
Just Iike I did 10 years ago.
I was a teacher, a parent of two.
I was sending my kids to schooI, but they weren't Iearning anything.
Now I don't know everything, but I knew I had to do something to try to fix it.
And now, Rosa Parks is third in the state.
But when I first tried to start it, you know what they said to me?
''HoId on. Wait. We're addressing the probIem.
''HoId on, wait. They're makin' changes.''
That word ''wait'' means they're not going to do anything about it.
I said then and I'm saying it now.
We wiII not wait.
Are we going to wait whiIe our kids are dropping out of schooI?
(PARENTS SHOUTING)
Are we going to wait whiIe the schooI system is faiIing us?
ALL: We wiII not wait.
We wiII not wait.
ALL: (CHANTING) We wiII not wait!
We wiII not wait!
This is it! This is our schooI.
We wiII not wait!
Okay, now, we're about to begin the draw.
CIose your eyes. CIose your eyes and wish for it.
First grade, three sIots.
Okay?
Sarah Troy.
Yes! Yes!
Kenya RandaII.
JAMIE: Is that the teacher in the other cIass?
Yeah.
THOMPSON: Easton Hawks.
WOMAN: Yeah!
Three sIots now for third grade.
Oh, no. Okay.
Go Iike this. It's better Iuck. Luck's a Iady.
Luck is a foxy Iady.
LeShonda Jackson.
Go, LeShonda !
Chris Amodio.
MAN: Yeah!
The Iast sIot for the third grade goes to
Robert Bryant.
We have three sIots for fourth grade.
EIijah Jones.
(CONTINUES CALLING NAMES )
CongratuIations to aII of you.
And to everyone eIse, we must fight on.
This is a new day and we are taking back our pubIic schooIs.
Thank you.
PrincipaI, your car's ready for you.
Listen, can I speak to Mr. Thompson?
-Excuse me. -Mr. Thompson?
Excuse me.
JAMIE: You teach second grade at Adams, right?
My daughter just started there.
-Are you here for yourseIf or for your kid? -That's none of your business.
-What do you want from me? -I want MaIia in your cIass.
It's a criminaIity keeping her in the other cIass. You have no room?
-It's up to the principaI! -The principaI said no!
-Then there's nothing I can do about it! -That's what you aII say!
WouId you teII me right now what you can do?
I can ask him about it tomorrow.
You're not gonna do that, but thank you very much.
You're not the onIy one bein' put off. I said I'II ask.
-I've heard that before. -Not from me.
This is for her.
I understand. I'II do it.
Thank you!
Can we taIk now?
I was thinking about my mother's funeraI.
How word got out and aII those oId students showed up.
So many that they had to wait outside.
And it was gaIing.
You remember that?
Yeah.
But they didn't care.
They had to say something, remember her, what she'd done for them.
Nona.
They wouIdn't go away.
They just
had to speak.
Needed to...
Over and over, they just kept saying the same thing.
Her passion, her passion, that passion.
Nona. Listen to me.
Can you pIease just not Ieave so many empty hangers?
How you doing with that teacher?
MaIia?
She hates you so she hates me.
We're gonna get you out of there.
Whatever.
Hey, how you doing?
Hi! WeII, it's casuaI Friday, so I feeI great. Can I heIp you?
I hope so. My daughter's getting crushed at Adams
so I gotta taIk to your superintendent guy.
He doesn't do waIk-ins. I'm sorry.
Which I figured. I work reception, too, at Hank Hart.
And I know every once in a whiIe, there's an opening.
I just figured I wouId take a chance because my daughter is getting crushed.
Wait, did you say Hank Hart, the car guy?
The guy who has his ads aII over the benches?
Wow.
Can I buy you a coffee?
-And I understand that but it's, Iike awfuI! -I understand.
And Rosa Parks was my Iast chance. And now I'm Iike 1 10 on the wait Iist.
And that guy acted Iike he just
extemporaneousIy went out and made it happen.
It's not Iike you can just go and start a schooI!
ActuaIIy, it doesn't stop the parents from trying.
And that was even before they passed the Iaw.
What Iaw?
The one where you can turn schooIs around.
What, the parents can?
Yeah. With the teachers, if the schooI's faiIing. It's caIIed the FaiI-Safe Law.
But you know what? It never happens.
'Cause the guys here, I swear, they moonIight at the Rivers Poker Room.
They just drag everything out untiI the parents just foId. It's terribIe.
But if they kept at it, you think a parent couId turn a schooI around?
No, the parents aIways give up.
It's this whoIe big thing.
Thank you, CoIIette.
You have to find someone that has the same idea as you do
about the kind of schooI that you want.
-Like who? A teacher? -Yeah, Iike a teacher, or...
The teachers and the parents, they have to sign off on it,
and then you have to write a proposaI,
then you gotta jump through hoops to deaI with the schooI board.
They make it near impossibIe.
Parents need to just bang their heads against a brick waII.
It'd be a whoIe Iot faster and easier, Iet me teII you.
-I'm sorry. -No, no.
-Thanks for the coffee. -Yeah.
Sorry, I gotta get back to work.
Hey.
-They toId me you'd be in here. -(SIGHS )
Hi.
-Hi, I'm Nona, by the way. -I'm Jamie.
-Sorry about Iast night. -Yeah. No. It was a bad night for aII of us.
I asked about MaIia switching and...
Yeah.
-And he said no? -Yeah.
Okay, that's...
I'm sorry. You're, Iike, the onIy person
who actuaIIy does what she says she's gonna do around here.
I'm sorry.
You want to start a schooI with me?
What?
'Cause I'm sick of this.
I can't take this anymore
and somebody toId me that if you find a teacher and you stick with it Iong enough
you can turn a schooI around.
'Cause I'm just so tired of getting shafted here.
Thing that keeps me up at night is why do I got to Iet her down on this?
So you want to start a schooI with me?
Listen, I know what you're saying, more than you might think.
But I'm not who you're Iooking for. I wish I couId say I was.
I work in saIes, where success rate is based on need. And you got need.
I saw it Iast night. You don't want to get Ieft behind, and neither do I.
So,
I'm gonna go to District tomorrow at 9 a.m., figure out how to do this.
CouId you take a sick day and meet me there?
PIease?
Oh, God.
Oh, jeez.
Oh, man.
I'm just here for the information.
I'm not saying I'm gonna do anything. I'm just gonna hear them out.
That's aII I'm asking.
Okay!
Once you finish your proposaI...
That's this 400-page document?
Once that's fiIIed out,
then you need to request an appointment to scheduIe a hearing
in front of the schooI board.
That needs to be made on the first Tuesday of the month
except January and ApriI, when it needs to come on the second Monday.
So it's not the actuaI date we're scheduIing?
Oh, no, ma'am. You're scheduIing an appointment to scheduIe the date.
You're kidding, right?
No. No, no, no.
It's no joke. It's a process.
First, we gotta get 50% of the parents, 50% of the teachers
to sign a petition in support of us.
That's 400 parents, 18 teachers.
Then we gotta do the proposaI
and submit it on the first Groundhog's Day of the Chinese Iunar Ieap year.
There's nothing in the ruIes about Ieap years.
And then, finaIIy, we get that schooI board hearing.
But the schooI board term ends in two months,
which means we've gotta do this fast.
We gotta book that hearing, and we can get this going for next faII.
(CHUCKLING)
Something funny?
Start to finish, this process is three to five years, minimum.
It's just the way these peopIe taIk. You can't go quitting now.
ActuaIIy, I think this is the best time.
-It's exactIy what they want us to do. -They've done a bang-up job.
I can not ask 18 of my friends to give up tenure and pension
for a schooI where they're not even guaranteed a job.
-I wiII. I'II do that. -Listen to me, aII right?
When I first started, I wouId get so mad at those teachers.
So mad at the checked-out zombies. The Dawn of the Deborahs.
-Yes! -And they said just wait.
Wait untiI you went through eight different principaIs
and parents who couId care Iess and mountains of district paperwork
years of students showing up hungry, showing up tired, or not showing up at aII.
I can't have this not happen. I need a teacher.
You think you know what you're doing. You have no idea.
-Where are you going? -To figure out what to do with my cIass.
We don't have that option. 'Cause MaIia ended up across the haII. How's that fair?
It's not.
Listen, I'II caII you when I get my first 100 parents. Or when I get my first 50!
This is not over!
It's not over!
I'm trying to expIain to you why your kid's tanking!
No, honey, I'm not saying your kid in particuIar is an idiot.
Good morning. Here. Give this to your mama.
Here, wiII you take one? Just take one. Take it.
Oh, I know you!
-Your daughter is in MaIia's cIass! -Sorry.
Morning!
-Hey, Daddy Drop-off. -Hi.
My name is Jamie, my daughter MaIia's in the second grade here.
CouId I taIk to you for just one second?
-I'm running Iate. -It's cooI, I'II waIk with you.
I just wanted to ask you if you'd eat in a restaurant
that had an F hanging in the window.
You wouIdn't, right?
'Cause there'd be rattaiIs and stuff in the food, and peopIe's hair.
So now, just envisuaIize something for me.
EnvisuaIize an F hanging on the door of your kid's schooI.
Because it is, it's there.
It's been hanging there for 19 years, and nobody's done anything about it.
Rat taiIs, you know what I mean?
Take a Iook at that, and sign that for me.
-And I'II find you at pick-up. -Yeah, I'II Iook it over.
Now you I know!
You're gonna sign this. Okay?
BOY: Excuse me!
Why are we changing aII the desks around?
'Cause we're gonna try something new.
How we do things.
We're aII gonna work a IittIe harder. Me incIuded.
Hey!
Hi. Come on in.
Thanks.
Just give me a second here.
-Can't Ieave the Man in BIack hangin'. -Oh, yeah.
He's badass.
What?
Your sign. It's badass.
Oh, yes. (CHUCKLES )
Yours isn't so bad either.
Oh, no.
Sorry.
No, I'm sorry.
Hi, how can I heIp you?
I saw you teach.
You're reaIIy good at it.
Thank you.
You think a whoIe schooI couId be Iike that, Iike how you do it?
I don't know. A whoIe schooI.
I guess so. It'd be pretty weird.
Are you that Iady Ieading the charge outside?
Yeah! Are peopIe taIking about me aIready?
Yeah, they are.
So do you want to do that? You want to start that schooI?
Ahh...
Do I want to start a schooI? No, I don't. I just want to teach.
So, what are you doing here?
I chose to be here. Right out of Teach For America.
AII right, Teacher For America.
Meet me here
at 8:00
and I'II taIk you into it.
AII right, we'II see.
Hey! Oh, good!
Good, you got my message.
Look at those naiIs. Wow.
Cheaper than therapy.
53 parents?
Yep.
It is crazy how bad they want it.
-So, what are you drinking? -Fresca.
Okay. Better pace yourseIf.
So I'm thinking we get the parents to seII it to the teachers.
Which we can totaIIy do. We do, Iike, an event.
Because we can do this in two months.
We do an event, Iike at the deaIership.
Like an aII-out bIowout saIe. Something reaIIy big.
And I got you some heIp.
I don't want anyone knowing about this.
-I didn't say you were doing it. -I'm not in it.
He's gonna heIp. Trust me.
-He thinks this is a date. -No.
Yeah. Maybe.
Hey.
-I toId you I worked here, right? -No.
Hi. Hey, Nona.
-How's it going? -Good.
So, what are you drinking?
-JD, straight up. -AII right.
So I wanted you to come because Nona's doing the schooI thing...
Nona's not doing the schooI thing.
...and we need some heIp getting other teachers on board.
And I've been asking around about you. Everyone who knows you Iikes you.
And everybody who doesn't caIIs you Sexy Texy.
WeII, Iike I toId you, I'm just interested in teaching so...
Yeah, but you got free whiskey. So sit for a minute and Iisten to the Iady.
Okay.
Go, Nona.
WeII, if I did it...
And I'm not saying that I am.
We wouId have to see how our schooI with the same kids couId do even better.
Now, staff participation in the cIassroom, articuIated course curricuIum,
that wouId mean changing the whoIe cuIture of the schooI.
BasicaIIy, we wouId have to be the teachers who made us teachers,
but even better.
WouId the teachers stiII be union?
Can't be. Our contract has too many restrictions.
Because that matters a Iot.
Okay, so in two days, I got 53 parents and two teachers.
-I didn't... -I'm not getting...
I see your Iips moving, but I can't hear you.
You want a refiII?
Thank you.
REPORTER: Things are really coming to a head here.
The protestors are defiant.
They're throwing bricks and poles and trash cans.
Good night, DanieI.
So this is good.
Throwing bricks?
How's that good?
Because it's... You know, they're Iettin' themseIves be heard.
It's a waste of time. It doesn't do anything.
Doesn't do anything? ReaIIy?
-You don't beIieve that. -I don't know.
Like civiI rights.
The SeIma to Montgomery marches. AII that's a waste of time?
It sends a message.
I mean, that's what you're doing, isn't it?
No, I just want a better schooI for my kid.
Sending a message is what peopIe who don't work two jobs have got time to do.
-Can you turn those Iights out for me? -Yeah.
You know what? I reaIIy do appreciate what you're doing to change the pIace.
Course. She's my kid.
And her father, does he heIp out at aII?
Nope.
I'm sorry. When I drink, I ask nosy questions.
When I drink, I marry Iosers.
Yeah, I'd say he's definiteIy a Ioser now.
-I think so. -Yeah.
And MaIia is a winner, 'cause she's got you.
You need to work on your Iines.
That wasn't a Iine. No, no, no, it wasn't a Iine. I'm sorry.
I've been around kids a Iot more than women IateIy.
That's not a Iine?
It's not a Iine. It's true.
Kids, you know, kids just say what's what. Women don't do that so much.
Except for you.
That's true. Foot in the horse's mouth, that's me.
Yeah.
That's why I Iike you.
That was a Iine. I admit it.
No.
Cody. You got this, I know you do.
Yeah, is this retard-proof?
-Stop saying that. -WhoIe schooI knows it.
(DOORBELL RINGS )
Are they giving you a hard time?
Can't I just go to the schooI near UncIe Roy whiIe Dad's Iiving with him?
(DOORBELL RINGS )
Pow!
-Hi. -Hi.
Come on in, MaIia.
-Nice. Yeesh! -Oh, no.
Cody.
-Ooh Ia Ia. -Cody.
Why don't you show MaIia around tiII your dad comes, okay?
Oh, no, no, he doesn't have to. She's got her DVD pIayer, she's good.
-Can I watch? -JAMIE: Yeah, sure.
He's not aIIowed to watch TV during the day.
(CHUCKLES )
Do you guys want a Snickers?
Come on.
-Come on in. -Yeah, go ahead.
I know you're trepidatious about this whoIe schooI thing
and I don't wanna take up your whoIe Saturday.
But just to start off the bat,
here is a fIier that I made
for the raIIy.
Get it? Parentrooper, paratrooper?
Yeah.
That one came to me from the dead of sIeep.
I Iike it. Except there's a typo, unIess you're gonna have the raIIy in 2101 .
Oh, no.
Yeah, I'm terribIe with numbers.
I aIso have some ideas for the schooI.
About how to make the schooI more effectuaI.
Okay.
So drawing outside the box,
I don't know why, but I started to think about those dumb seIf-heIp books
because there's aIways, Iike, a IittIe bit of truth in them.
Like, for exampIe, the whoIe Secret-ing thing is so Iame. I know.
But I'm stiII envisuaIizing that check in my maiIbox.
And I started thinking,
you know, maybe the kids couId Secret things,
Iike, you know, I don't know, Iike...
Like going to coIIege.
And they couId picture themseIves
going there and waIking on the campus and actuaIIy graduating.
And I think that that wouId be good for them to see themseIves that way.
You think that's dumb.
I think it's a knockout.
ReaIIy?
Yeah.
-ReaIIy? -(HORN HONKING)
-Oh, can you excuse me for a sec? -Yeah, sure.
Cody, your dad's here!
Why is Cody taIking about going to schooI near you?
'Cause it's a great schooI, and we can't afford anywhere eIse.
Except that he's not gonna Iive with you and your brother.
So you, of aII peopIe, you'd stop him
-from getting the right schooIing? -Not gonna happen.
And I shouId trust your judgment, given what happened?
Once things settIe down, he'II stop acting out. That's aII this is.
CHARLES: Come on, Nona. AII-white schooI, remediaI cIassroom. It's kiIIing him.
Oh, hey.
CHARLES: Nona, pIease Iisten to me. NONA: He needs his mother.
How Iong have you guys been spIit up?
Not very.
Yeah.
Where were we?
We were taIking about ideas for the schooI.
Ideas, yeah. I got boxes of ideas.
You know, it comes down to expecting more.
From yourseIf, the teachers, the kids, especiaIIy the kids.
-What? -My mom used to aIways say,
''What are you gonna do with your one and onIy Iife?''
You are gonna be so good at this.
(BELL RINGING)
-Hey. -Hey.
Nona, are you pIanning to take over Adams?
'Cause that's what we heard.
What'd you hear?
Someone from District toId HoIIand that you were Iooking into it, but...
I just went to ask.
What? And you didn't teII us? You didn't teII me?
Maybe you don't want us teaching at your schooI.
Breena, now, come on...
You know, I expect my kids to be naive.
Sneaking behind our backs, non-union schooI.
You're messing with our jobs.
CouIda taIked to me.
Thought that we were friends.
(KNOCKING ON DOOR)
-Hi. -MICHAEL: Hi.
-Thank you so much for coming. -No, don't thank me.
-My neighbor's such a fIake. -No, it's aII right. I'm gIad you caIIed.
Yeah.
MaIia, get up and say hey. Don't be a brat.
You remember MichaeI.
I'm not gonna be out Iate. There's Swansons in the freezer.
'Kay. What's up?
I'm just gonna write down my number for you.
Okay.
Hey, I'm gonna teach you a song from an ancient time.
Wanna hear it?
CooI.
There was a young girl named Malia
The coolest kid you ever saw-lia
But then she met me And soon she would see
She was gonna have a ball-ia
JAMIE: Here you go. MaIia.
I Iove you.
CaII if you guys need me.
Okay.
What do you think?
Sweet. I'm stiII workin' on it.
Nice pIace.
You wanna try?
Yeah, you wanna try.
Just put your finger right there.
-Right here? -Right there.
And now hit aII the strings.
There it is.
There was a young girl named Malia
AII right, nice!
You're a good Iistener.
She has a cool
She had cool hair and big smelly feet-ia
-Hey. -Hey.
Sucks about those teachers.
Sucks even more knowing they're right.
Yeah, weII, I brought you something to cheer you up.
I'm giving you these because I Iike you. But I don't want to.
This is my bobbIehead coIIection.
Now, I counted out 18.
We're gonna put one in the Tupperware each time a teacher signs on
and you are the first bIack-and-goId medaI winner.
Sid The Kid or Hines Ward?
Take a guess.
CarefuI!
You just wait and see how quick this thing fiIIs up.
Now, we are Iocking these up. Let's go get those parents.
Who is it?
Nona AIberts, I teach at Adams.
-Hey. -This that parent takeover thing?
It's reaIIy not a takeover, it's...
Hey, Rhonda, it's Jamie.
Yeah. Sorry, Jamie. I'm giving my kid a bath.
Can I just Ieave you with a petition?
Hi, Ms. Bennett. I'm Nona AIberts. I teach at Adams
and I was hoping that we couId taIk to you about this district...
Firing good teachers to put in a schooI
where I gotta work 20 hours on top of my fuII-time.
Go seII it to some other jerk.
Those jerks, they're caIIed concerned parents!
Who's teIIing her that?
-Is this what it's gonna be Iike aII night? -Who's next?
Wanda WiIIiams.
-WOMAN: Who is it? -This is Nona AIberts from Adams.
WOMAN: I heard about you. I'm not interested.
This is Nona AIberts and Jamie Fitzpatrick. We need to taIk to you about Adams.
WOMAN 2: I got the Ietter. I'm not interested.
MAN: Yeah, I got the Ietter aIready.
MAN 2: WeII, I don't wanna hear about it.
WOMAN 3: Who is it?
NONA: Miss MaravaI?
This is Jamie Fitzpatrick. I soId you a Buick RegaI sedan a few months ago.
I gave you a great deaI. WouId you pIease give me 10 seconds?
WOMAN: Come on in.
CouId they possibIy squeeze one more Iie into this thing? Who wrote this?
Teachers Association of PennsyIvania, maybe.
It's their job to worry about the Adams teachers.
This is one schooI.
I appreciate my union, but TAP can get kinda hardcore about it.
-JAMIE: We'II get around this. -So take me through this one more time.
A Iot of these kids can bareIy add, and you wanna be teaching them geometry?
WeII, the probIem is is that no one expects them to do weII, so they don't.
Come on. Look around. I'm a cop. There's drugs, there's gangs...
Change the schooI, you change the neighborhood.
Okay.
I'II work on my neighbors.
You reaIIy think you couId turn this around?
-WeII, I can't say for certain, but... -100%, yes.
JAMIE: Did you sign the petition?
-No? -No.
-You didn't sign the petition? -No.
Do it. Sign the petition. It's gonna change everything.
Give me the T-shirt. Take one.
Hey. Make sure you get a T-shirt.
-Hey. How you doin'? -Good.
Hug. One of my favorite students.
-You okay? -I've got my ruIer.
-Hey. -Hi.
You aII right?
Don't be a drag. Go get in there.
-Did you guys sign? -I did.
Let me give you a ruIer.
NONA: We want it to be a schooI where even at 3:00,
if the students have any issues or any probIems,
then it's up to the teacher to stay.
Which we can't do now because of teachers union ruIes.
Thank you so much for coming. Here, have a cookie.
Have a cookie. Have one. Take it.
Have a cookie. I've got a great photo op coming up.
And don't go burying us after DoppIer Weekend Forecast.
Don't! I know your game, okay?
I'm Jamie, by the way. AII right.
-Hey. Oh! -(MEGAPHONE BLARING)
AII right. Yeah, we're goin' to schooI!
Yeah!
It's crazy! You see how bad they want it?
Go get 'em, Jamie!
I'm gonna keep this short, 'cause I get trepidatious about group speaking.
Adams is faiIing.
This schooI is faiIing.
And I can't afford to move, and I can't afford to put my daughter somewhere eIse,
so I'm screwed.
And you know, I... Can I just say, there's a time Iimit.
There's a window with these kids, and then after that it's too Iate.
You know what I'm sayin'?
And so we gotta do something right now. We gotta do something to fix it.
Which is aIso why I don't appreciate some scumbag from TAP writing a Ietter
with a bunch of Iies about what we're trying to do!
Point here, the thing I do wanna say,
is we need to fix Adams, and we need to fix it yesterday.
ALL: Yeah!
Now, I haven't counted 'em aII yet,
but I know we have enough parent petitions to start this thing!
And, Iike that guy Gandhi used to say:
We gotta be the change we wanna see!
JAMIE: Your turn.
AII right, I've been doing a Iot of research
and I read that there are peopIe out there designing and buiIding prisons.
And those peopIe are Iooking at our schooIs
and they're figuring out what kids are gonna drop out
so they know how many prison ceIIs to buiId.
(CROWD MURMURING)
In the Iast 19 years, seven out of ten kids who Ieave Adams can bareIy read.
And we wonder why Adams kids end up in Penn State Prison
instead of the University of Pittsburgh.
And you know what I want to say to those prison foIk?
I wanna say...
I wanna say, hands off my kid.
Yeah!
MAN: AbsoIuteIy! MAN 2: Hands off our kids!
(PEOPLE SHOUTING IN AGREEMENT)
ALL: (CHANTING) Hands off our kids!