A Right Denied: What Good is it to be Able to sit at the Lunch Counter if you Cannot Read the Menu?

You can email your questions about school finance and equity for answer on the air to ECRadio@EquityCenter.org.

We know that today is not Halloween but you are in for both a trick and a treat; the trick is that we will begin a unique series for Equity Center Radio. Instead of just one or two parts to our interview, we will begin a month long series. And the treat is that today and continuing until completed, our host, the voice of Equity Center Radio and the Equity Center’s Executive Director, Wayne Pierce, joined by the Deputy Executive Director, Ray Freeman, will have an in-depth discussion about school reform with nationally known school reformer, Whitney Tilson. Mr. Tilson, by day, the head of Tilson Mutual Funds, 145 East 57th Street, New York, NY 10022–where he can be reached at 888.484.5766–and by night, a true educational crusader, reveals how our school systems, nationwide, are in crisis and explains, in great detail, why.

Mr. Tilson, after seeing An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore’s documentary about global warming, thought to himself, he explains to us, “That’s exactly what school reformers need as well!”, why not create a similar documentary about the need for school reform. Since he had spent the last few years developing a PowerPoint presentation that is now approximately 240 slides long (it’s posted at: The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform; more broadly, you might also be interested in his school reform web page at: My Views Regarding School Reform), and prompted by Bob Compton, a highly successful businessman who in retirement has dedicated himself to also addressing our educational failures by producing a series of documentaries entitled 2 Million Minutes, he did so. The result is A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine Education Reform.

In his documentary, education reformer Tilson gives the most in-depth exploration ever committed to film of the twin achievement gaps that threaten our nation’s future: between the U.S. and our economic competitors, and between low-income, minority students and their more affluent peers. After spending more than two decades on the front lines, witnessing first-hand public education’s shocking failures and, especially at the higher education level, remarkable successes, Mr. Tilson was inspired to assemble a powerful and at times unsettling documentary about these twin achievement gaps. His premise: “Most Americans have long known that our public schools aren’t getting the job done, but as our country increasingly falls behind our economic competitors and a wide academic gap within our country persists between low-income, minority students and their more affluent peers, these twin achievement gaps have reached crisis proportions.” “Simply put,” he continues, “the failure of our public schools is the most pressing domestic issue our nation faces.” All is not lost, according to Mr. Tilson, “but it won’t be easy.” Because children do not have a vote and the parents of minority and poor students, for multiple reasons, do not really participate in the main stream political process, they are losing the chance at the “American Dream.” The text on the back cover of the soon to be released DVD of his documentary, A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform, puts these judgments flawlessly, “The system,” it says, “while failing children, has been working very well for the adults, who fight ferociously to maintain the unacceptable status quo. The outcome of this battle will determine the long-term future of our country.”

Now, utilizing the research that he used in his film, in this series of podcasts, he verbally paints the identical detailed portrait of American public education and its failures that is presented in his upcoming documentary.

Whitney Tilson committed himself to this issue more than 20 years ago, when he was one of the first people to join Wendy Kopp in starting Teach for America. She in turn later introduced him to David Levin, the co-founder of the KIPP network of charter schools, and he has served on KIPP’s board in New York City for nearly a decade. Mr. Tilson is also one of the founders of Democrats for Education Reform, Rewarding Achievement (REACH), and the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, and serves on the board of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, the Council of Urban Professionals, and the Pershing Square Foundation. Mr. Tilson received an MBA with High Distinction from the Harvard Business School, where he was elected a Baker Scholar, and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College, with a bachelor’s degree in Government. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and three daughters.

Although the Equity Center certainly takes issue with some of Mr. Tilson’s views, his documentary is an important addition to the body of thoughtful assessments surrounding the need for overall school reform. He provides insightful information and opinion that is worth listening to; and Equity Center Radio is pleased to present his opinions. You may disagree with some, maybe all, of his proposals for fixing the system, but we doubt that you will quarrel with his premise that the state of education is in crisis and that it is, for many students, especially those in poor neighborhoods, a “Right Denied.”

A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform

Whitney Tilson

Whitney Tilson’s Documentary, A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine School Reform will be premiered on April 7, 2010; however, you can pre-order the DVD by clicking HERE.

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