I just finished watching a documentary called "The Lottery". This documentary focused on several students waiting to win a charter school lottery for acceptance into the school. The documentary focused on these student's struggles in the public school system in Harlem. All of the student parents wanted a better education for their children. None of the parents felt that a good education could be achieved by attending a public school.

My public education history was great. I attended Nova High School in Davie, FL. My school was focused on being a good school and having great teachers. I wasn't a great student most of my life. I had great potential and many of my teachers noticed. Unfortunately, like those kids in the documentary, my life a little less peachy than most people attending that school. I should have attended a different school, but my father had done his homework and knew Nova was better. I lived in bad neighborhood and I was a child of an immigrant. My father lied in order for my sisters and I to attend Nova. He said we lived elsewhere, although they didn't believe him, still we were able to attend after all. My sophomore year in high school, I decided to turn things around and focus on my education. I attended a great school that allowed me to focus on my education. In all of my childhood misfortunes, I was fortunate enough to have attended a good school.

Everyone deserves the right to attend a great school. The education system shouldn't stay the way it is. The world is moving forward through the use of technology. Most public schools in my neighborhood ask the student's parents to bring toilet paper. These are the same schools that will not have new technology in their class for students. The world is so different now from what it was when the educational system was formed. How can we expect children to have a great education when the teaching methods are ancient? Many teachers are restricted by strict guidelines and cannot teach the way they would like. The school system is built on strict measures that schools must follow. The documentary explained how the teachers' union had great influence in the decision making of the education system. It also explained how the union dictates of policies and reforms and keep politicians from changing things.

Charter school are the last resort for students attending public schools to receive a good education. Charter schools do not follow the same educational guidelines required by public schools. They have longer school days and longer school years. They promote teacher independence in terms of curriculum and they encourage team support. Charter schools focus on child education by leaving behind the politics involved in the public school system. The teachers' union hires outside organizations, such as ACORN, to protest against charter schools. a spokesperson for them stated in the video thatthe problem were not the schools but rather poverty. She mentioned that the majority of latino and blacks do not do well in the system because they are poor. She also stated that poverty impedes education. I am proof that she is wrong. My family was poor and I grew up in a bad neighborhood. I graduated high school, I am college now, and my future is brighter than ever.

All of those kids in the documentary should have a great education. It is the responsibility of the school system to grant them a great education. All of those children had great parents who were focused on finding the right school for them. The neighborhood they live in, their ethnicity, or their family life should not be an excuse for the school system to have failing students. Something is not working with the current educational system and it must be fixed. Why is has yet to change?....I'm not entirely sure.