TESTED BY DIRECTOR / WRITER / PRODUCER CURTIS CHIN

Stuyvesant. Bronx Science. Brooklyn Tech: all nationally ranked public high schools considered among the best in New York City and the nation. Each year, thousands of 8th graders compete to secure coveted spots at these elite schools by taking the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (the SHSAT). Admission is granted based solely on that single test score.

Only one in five will get in.

Accusations of racial discrimination have been leveled against this one-test-only policy, as black and Hispanic youth, comprising 70% of the city’s total public school population, now represent only 5% of the student body at some of the specialized schools. Meanwhile, Asian Americans and whites form supermajorities. In September 2012, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights to challenge this admission policy.

Acceptance Rates for 8th Graders by Race for Fall 2008 – 2011 SHSAT exams. (For admission in the 2009-2010 to 2012-2013 School Years)

This documentary follows the struggles and challenges of a diverse group of students, many of them immigrants and working class, as they prepare for this all-important test.

ABOUT THE FILM – click here:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1943067753/tested

WHY THIS FILM IS IMPORTANT

Education is one key path to social justice, and Tested will spotlight this, along with hot-button issues relevant to our “post-racial”/Obama era:

  • Access to high-quality public education. As income gaps widen in America, the education gap is widening as well. Large segments of the public, minorities in particular, are now at risk of being left behind. With the growing importance of technology and information, what can we do to ensure every child has a chance to participate in the American dream?
  • Equity and social justice. While polling shows the American public generally approves of policies that address past racial discrimination, support for these programs is diminishing, and the Supreme Court — as witnessed in the recent Fisher v. Texas case and another on the 2014 docket — seems determined to chip away at such programs. While not necessarily directly addressing affirmative action, our film will look at the SHSAT through the prism of fairness.
  • Race versus class. From free school classes to ethnic-based programs and private tutors, the film will touch on what prep options are available to whom and at what financial cost. We’ll also examine the fact that at some of these specialized schools, over fifty percent of the students are Title I, many coming from poor neighborhoods and immigrant families.
  • The Tiger Mom and model-minority myth. Often discussions on education policy present issues as white versus black and brown. We will include the often overlooked Asian American perspective, adding a whole different set of stereotypes to the mix and attempting to sift through them.

The film will examine how communities of color, using stereotypes, are pitted against one another in a fight for dwindling public resources. The film is especially timely because of the recent NAACP LDF legal complaint. Even as public education comes under fire, it remains one of the few tools available to help disadvantaged and immigrant families ascend America’s socioeconomic ladder.

WHO WE ARE

CURTIS CHIN — Director/Writer/Producer

Curtis’s last film, Vincent Who? has screened at over 300 colleges in four countries and won awards from the National Association for Multicultural Education and the Asian American Justice Center.  He’s excited to be back in NYC to work on Tested, his second feature documentary film.

ADAM WOLMAN — Writer/Producer

Drawing on his experience at HBO Digital, Disney|ABC Television Group, MTV, and CBS Productions, Adam consults for writers, entertainment tech companies, and other content creators for television/film/the web.  Before moving to L.A., Adam was an independent producer in Boston, and also dipped a toe (still wet) into politics as a lobbyist and speechwriter for Mass Citizen Action.

SAM HENRIQUES — Director of Photography

A product of New York’s public schools and with two daughters of his own currently in the system, Sam knows firsthand how complex it can be to navigate NYC’s public school system.  Sam recently won an Emmy for The Good Soldier as Producer in Documentary & Historical Programming.  He also worked on Portrait of Wally, Nursery University and Angola, which was nominated for an Academy Award.

HOW KICKSTARTER WORKS

It’s simple – all you have to do sign up for a free account, give as much money as you like, and claim your reward. It’s important to remember that your credit card will NOT be charged unless we reach our $20,000 funding goal. If we don’t reach our goal, we will not receive any of the money. If at any point you would like to increase your donation, just log back into your Kickstarter account and click ‘Manage Your Donation’ on this page. Thank you so much for your support!