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American Teacher

Released Sep 30, 2011 1h 21m Documentary List
69% Tomatometer 16 Reviews 69% Audience Score 250+ Ratings
Interviews with policy advisers and an examination of the experiences of four teachers illustrate the the state of the U.S. educational system. Read More Read Less
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Critics Reviews

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Joe Neumaier New York Daily News This heartbreaking and essential look into the lives of those who put so much into educating other people's children ought to be seen by anyone concerned about the fate of the public school system, and the nation as a whole. Rated: 5/5 Sep 30, 2011 Full Review Neil Genzlinger New York Times A heartfelt, bittersweet portrait of several teachers as they make the difficult decision of whether to stick with the profession. Rated: 3/5 Sep 29, 2011 Full Review Kenneth Turan Los Angeles Times As we watch the individuals in "American Teacher" struggle with the burdens the system places on them, it's hard not to feel like crying, both for them specifically and for our national culture. Rated: 4/5 Sep 29, 2011 Full Review Richard Propes TheIndependentCritic.com American Teacher is an entertaining but light documentary. Rated: 3.0/4.0 Sep 2, 2020 Full Review Sarah Boslaugh Playback:stl Vanessa Roth's documentary American Teacher positions itself as a rebuttal to those who make political points maligning American teachers. Rated: 7/10 Mar 9, 2012 Full Review Nora Lee Mandel Film-Forward.com [S]upplements lots of stats with teachers' true tales. . . [E]ffective portraits poignantly personalize the multitude of charts and testimony from many education experts. Rated: 6/10 Oct 9, 2011 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Well-meaning, but not a very accurate look at today's teachers. I'm a retired teacher and can say that the teachers in this doc. were not the ones I worked with-none had 2nd. jobs. Few of my colleagues spent much extra time or their own money in their classrooms. Also, teachers' salaries have grown significantly in recent years. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Very true documentary! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie is so eye-opening and powerful. It goes into the life of teachers and really exposes our society's misconceptions about the teaching profession. So many of our country's best teachers are not getting enough money, not receiving enough respect, and not able to continue without burning out.One of the most powerful quotes in the movie: "They're not asking to make hundreds of thousands of dollars. They're asking to be able to buy a house, to have a decent car, to live in a nice neighborhood, to have some comforts - to maybe take a vacation every once in a while. And when you have teachers that have to have second jobs, when you have teachers that are living at the poverty level, then I think there is something wrong with that. And as a society, we need to really change that culture. We need to flip it around to say that being a teacher is the most important job in our society."- Mark Bounds (Deputy Superintendent for Educator Quality in South Carolina), American Teacher Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Anecdotal stories of above average teachers - and how some got burned out. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review k-bob h A movie definitely worth watching. Of course I agree with the general tenor. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member One of the best documentaries that I've ever seen! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
American Teacher

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American Teacher

American Teacher (2011) American Teacher (2011) American Teacher (2011) American Teacher (2011) Erik Benner in "American Teacher." Rhena Jasey (center) in "American Teacher." View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Interviews with policy advisers and an examination of the experiences of four teachers illustrate the the state of the U.S. educational system.
Director
Vanessa Roth, Brian McGinn
Producer
Dave Eggers, Vanessa Roth, Ninive Calegari
Distributor
First Run
Production Co
The Teacher Salary Project
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 30, 2011, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 11, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA)
$32.3K
Runtime
1h 21m
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