I saw The Blind Side (www.theblindsidemovie.com) last night and was very moved by it. Michael Oher’s story is so unbelievable that if you didn’t know it was true, you’d dismiss it as over-the-top Hollywood storytelling: born to a crackhead mother and an absent father, he grew up in the Memphis projects, was taken away from his mother and became a ward of the state, was sent to (and fled from) numerous foster homes, and by his teenage years was homeless and barely literate, having been passed through the Memphis school system year after year without being educated in any way, shape or form. Thanks to his size, athleticism and an almost-unbelievable string of good luck, however, he ends up getting into a top private school, is adopted by a wealthy family, and (I don’t want to ruin the movie completely) football takes him far.
As I watched the movie, I couldn’t help thinking that this was like many of the Holocaust movies I’ve seen, about the incredible stories of the lucky survivors – but the real story and tragedy is the 99%+ who didn’t make it. While Oher’s family situation was exceptionally bad, the fact that the inner city schools he attended utterly failed him is not the exception at all – it’s the NORM for millions – MILLIONS! – of low-income, minority children. This is an outrage and national disgrace!
I struggle to understand how it’s possible that students in 2nd grade, much less 5th grade, much less high school, can’t read?! If I were czar, I would pass a law saying that every student at the end of FIRST grade (NOT 3rd grade and certainly not 5th grade) must demonstrate reading proficiency or will be held back. This crisis needs to be addressed EARLY – it’s much harder to catch kids up and/or hold them back when they’re older.