2 Million Minutes - A Documentary Review

Recently I attended a special screening of the new documentary by local venture capitalist Robert Compton, 2 Million Minutes: 21st Century Solution. This film tells the story of one of the top academic high schools in the nation and suggests that the school highlighted in the film serve as a model for the education reform our country desperately needs.

Two million minutes is about four years. How our students allocate this precious time is very important - especially in the context of a global economy. In the first 2 Million Minutes (A Global Examination) filmmakers followed two Indiana high school seniors and seniors at schools in India and Bangkok and how they allocate their time. A clear picture is painted of the differences in the attitudes of equally intelligent students. The cultural emphasis other countries are putting on high academic standards points to the danger the United States faces as many pass us by in a quest for knowledge. Our risk is summed up nicely by this comment in the film -
Brains are everywhere. Discoveries can be made everywhere. And, industries built on those discoveries also can be anywhere.
Shirley Ann Jackson, Physicist and President Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

In 21st Century Solution a small charter school in Tucson Arizona tells its story. BASIS is a school that struggled for a location, struggled for funding, and struggled for acceptance in their community, but immediately made tremendous impact. There is no football stadium, no performing arts center, and no cafeteria. However, the academic rigor in the middle school leads to things like pre-calculus in 9th grade and game theory in 11th. Students are almost exclusively taking AP courses by their senior year and 100% go on to four-year colleges. They highlight a quote on their homepage -
"Simply by virtue of attending BASIS, [students] will be placed in the highest category regarding rigor of curriculum..."
Steve McLaughlin, Duke University - Senior Associate Director of Admissions

Not only is the model BASIS operates successful, but the film also shows that the students are happy and sincerely excited about learning. Socio-economic backgrounds are mixed and make little difference. The key is setting the bar high and holding students accountable. If you challenge them, they will rise up to the occasion.

There is a big push in this country to embrace charter schools like BASIS and this film is a shining example for that campaign. As both films point out, America’s education system is dramatically falling behind. However, there are also considerable risks to subjecting our public education (and the kids in it) to a wholly market-driven system. In that, there are holes in the film I wished were addressed. We have to remember competition breeds winners and losers, and gambling with any child’s future for the sake of competition is not worth it.

Yes, with charter schools even our city is seeing great success, but there are public schools with greater enrollment that have equally impressive programs. I believe there are elements of the charter school system that may be applied to our current public systems. Plus, standards for teachers, teacher and administration compensation, and more freedom in the classroom are crucial elements in our systems to be addressed.

Robert Compton’s film was masterfully produced and brings one of the most important issues facing the 21st Century to the forefront. I sincerely hope this film gets national exposure and raises the level of the issue of education on our national agenda. Because for millions of students... the clock for their 2 million minutes is currently counting down.