National school voucher movement pushes a “documentary” attacking public schools

On May 30, a “documentary film” titled “The Cartel” was shown in Teaneck as part of the Hoboken Film Festival.

“The Cartel” was billed by its promoters as a “hard-hitting documentary about New Jersey public education,” but research into its backers suggests it is an orchestrated attack against public schools and the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA).

It was made by first-time film-maker Bob Bowdon, who is best known as an on-camera reporter for the Onion News Network, or, as his own website describes him, “Reporter of comedic, fake news for the Onion News Network as the character Brian Scott.”

The film was originally promoted by E3, the Newark-based organization behind the school voucher movement in New Jersey, but as the attached research paper indicates, the force behind “The Cartel” is the Los Angeles-based Moving Picture Institute, a renowned right-wing nonprofit organization that funds, produces, or promotes independent films that are devoted to “protecting and sustaining a free society.”

Some of MPI’s funders include major donors to the national voucher movement, including the Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation (which is also a heavy contributor to E3).

“The Cartel” includes footage of NJEA President Joyce Powell, who conducted an interview a year ago with a crew claiming it was doing an independent “documentary on public education in New Jersey,” with a focus on No Child Left Behind, the state school funding law, and charter schools. At no time did the crew identify its true agenda, nor who was funding its work.