It takes a village.
Also, well-connected producers and a long list of corporations willing to donate computers, furniture, paint, building supplies and expertise in exchange for TV exposure.
An uplifting take on the possibility of folks pulling together to remake failing schools is proffered by NBC beginning tonight (at 7 on Channel 9), in a big-hearted but ultimately oversimplified show, “School Pride.”
Yes, when citizens, businesses and government join forces for a unified goal, they can work miracles. As in the “Extreme Makeover” shows, the results in “School Pride” are miraculous mostly because the financial transactions are not revealed.
Details are obscured by lots of cheering and crying. The outcome is encouraging and nice to look at.
In “School Pride,” dangerously dilapidated school buildings, untended grounds and outdated and broken equipment are replaced by spanking new physical perks, seemingly through lots of volunteer work. Roll up your sleeves, help slap on a new coat of paint, and feel the pride.
The optimistic series from executive producers Cheryl Hines (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”) and Denise Cramsey (“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” and “True Beauty”) seems to sincerely believe we can all — like the bumper sticker says — be the change we want to see in the world.
It’s poignant, slickly produced programming, guaranteed to bring a tear. But let’s see the balance sheets.
Clearly this is a complicated proposition.
Tonight’s docu-tainment episode features sorely neglected Enterprise Middle School in Compton, Calif. There, a science teacher who has had to buy his own materials for an ill-equipped classroom suddenly gets a well-appointed lab, henceforth known as the “Microsoft Science and Technology Center.”
The unappealing school library is made over as the “People Magazine Reading Room.”
Ancient blackboards are replaced by new whiteboards from Promethean.
Next week, at Lanier Elementary in Baton Rouge, La., where the decrepit playground features broken basketball hoops and a single, deflated ball, a state-of-the-art playground will appear, with help from Home Depot. Inside, kids marvel at touch- screen computers from HP.
Students at horribly run-down schools might be forgiven for thinking all they have to do is ask.
The crisis in American public education is a hot topic, not just in news stories and this midterm election season but also in movies and documentaries. The debate stirred by the film “Waiting for Superman” will be sustained by NBC and “School Pride.”
If only a reality TV series were all it took to solve the problem.
The crew of four personalities in “School Pride” — a designer/beauty pageant winner, a journalist, a comedian/former teacher, and a tough cop/workout instructor — swoop in and remake terribly neglected schools with help from product placement and prominent mentions of brand donations. Student test scores go up, we are told, when the environment is more conducive to learning.
Looks great, but the show doesn’t have time to ponder how much involvement commercial corporations should have in shaping young minds. Or whether there’s enough airtime in all of television to get sponsors to donate what it takes to fix the system.
The four regulars get lots of face time, but the real heroes of the show are the upbeat young teachers from Teach for America (the two-year program for college graduates who are placed in needy school districts), whose passion for helping the children is apparent.
Simplified or not, give the series credit for joining the debate.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
