Zoned: Short film by the Show-Me Institute reframes the school choice discussion
A guest post by Kelvey Vander Hart, Development Assistant at the Show-Me Institute
Should your child’s academic future by determined by your zip code? This is the question the Show-Me Institute poses with our new short film, Zoned.
Missouri’s school choice landscape is barren. Charter schools are treated as a punishment for poor performance; they are functionally limited to low-performing districts that lose state accreditation. As a result, charter schools operate in only two of Missouri’s 518 school districts. Missouri has no private school choice programs, and the process of implementing a virtual learning program is being dragged out with little progress to date.
To persuade Missourians of the critical need for more school choice, researchers at the Institute felt the need to offer more than a laundry list of problems with the current system. They knew they couldn’t just connect with people’s heads—they had to connect with their hearts as well.
Out of this need the concept for Zoned was born. In order to understand the impact of geographic limitations, people needed a new perspective. This film imagines a world where the strict geographic restrictions on where kids can go to school apply instead to healthcare. The story of a mom who wants to get her sick child the care he needs, but is unable to do so because of where they live, highlights the absurdity of limiting a family’s options for their child’s education based on their address.
“We have a tendency to simply accept the status quo unless we are provoked to see it from a different perspective,” explained Show-Me Institute Director of Research and Education Policy Susan Pendergrass. “We hope that this film is that provocation.”
While the Institute has produced video content before, it had never produced something as involved as a short film. There were new challenges, like hiring a professional crew and actors and finding the best spots to film. Input and critique were sought from industry experts. Their feedback helped create a strong script and storyboards and avoid common production pitfalls along the way.
The process certainly had a learning curve. Adaptability was essential, as some ideas laid out on paper did not properly transition to the screen. Here’s how Show-Me Institute CEO Brenda Talent explained the challenge of taking ideas and putting them on film:
“A script may read very well but come across in a completely different or unexpected way when translated to film by actors. You need to constantly evaluate your product as you proceed to ensure you are communicating your message effectively and capturing what you need for the final product.”
The purpose of this film is to convince policymakers and the public to reconsider their stance on the current design of the public education system, both here in Missouri and across the country. Show-Me Institute wants them to question whether this system benefits our nation’s children, or if we have fallen into a status-quo rut that is failing our kids.
Zoned goes hand-in-hand with the research being done by state and national organizations and think tanks. It is designed as a tool for connecting policy goals with public emotion. Increasing school choice in Missouri is a long-standing policy priority at the Show-Me Institute, and our scholars have written scores of blog posts, op-eds, and essays on the topic. Zoned represents a new approach for moving the needle on this critical issue. A short film may not change Missouri’s educational landscape overnight, but we hope it is a strong step in the right direction.
