"American Teacher" @ Reel Work Film Festival

Free Screening of the documentary film, American Teacher.

Narrated by Matt Damon and based on a book by Dave Eggers, the film takes an honest look at the complexities of teaching in a severely underfunded public school system.

It is well documented that the most important school-based factor in students’ academic achievement and future success is the quality of their teachers, 46 percent of public school teachers leave the profession within the first five years of being in the classroom.

Salaries and stress are among the top reasons teachers say they leave. A good teacher has the power to change the course of a life—yet because teachers in the United States have historically had an average annual salary lower than their peers with similar educational backgrounds, 62 percent of our nation’s teachers must have second jobs outside of the classroom-like tutoring, mowing lawns, selling stereos, or bartending—to be able to afford to teach.