With Chicago schools opening Tuesday, a new documentary examines the history of primary education in our country.
“School: The Story of American Public Education” (Monday and Tuesday at 9 p.m., WTTW-Ch. 11) is an informative, if not too lively, dissection of the system from the 1770s to today.
Monday’s first two episodes show that school really wasn’t so public for everyone (only the rich could afford it, and at the start, no children could attend if they weren’t white), and when it finally was, it was used to stereotype people of different ethnicities
I.Q. tests helped pigeon-hole blacks, Native-Americans and Latinos into menial professions, and Irish Catholics were vilified for their religion.
It’s this kind of information that makes “School” sometimes fascinating — but other elements aren’t as helpful.
Meryl Streep’s narration doesn’t inspire much, and the archival film, pictures and paintings, and the actor voiceovers of famous players in education, are only marginally interesting.
Tuesday’s conclusion covers equality and financial concerns from the 1950s to now.