American Teacher

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American Teacher

Released Sep 30, 2011

1h 21m

Documentary

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Popcornmeter

69%

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16 Reviews

69%

Popcornmeter

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.

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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

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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

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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

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Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

American Teacher is an entertaining but light documentary.

Rated: 3.0/4.0

Sep 2, 2020

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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

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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

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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

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Audience Member

Very true documentary!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

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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

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Audience Member

Anecdotal stories of above average teachers - and how some got burned out.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

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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

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Audience Member

One of the best documentaries that I've ever seen!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

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Vanessa Roth

Director

Brian McGinn

Director

Matt Damon

Narrator

Dave Eggers

Producer

Vanessa Roth

Producer

Ninive Calegari

Producer

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Critics Consensus: 50/50 is Certified Fresh

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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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