The Wire, Pt. 4

The fourth season of "The Wire" took the exploration of the problems in Baltimore a step further, this time looking at the impact of the school system. There are those that argue the fourth season is the show's best, and there is certainly plenty to like about the exploration of one of our greatest failings in society, the education and welfare of our children.

When I worked for the Paso Robles Press, I had an opportunity for the last three and a half years I was there to cover local schools. I was consistently impressed by the level of dedication and the efforts of staff, and I was amazed at the achievement, skills, and passions of the students. There were a lot of great programs and some dedicated staff members.

But our education system, as it's currently designed, is broken. One of the enduring legacies of the George W. Bush administration is the No Child Left Behind legislation. Though I can see what the possible goals of the initiative were, it's hard to see how it's been successful. It's changed education into a numbers game — who can best prepare kids to pass a test each year. All the funding is tied to the test, and a great deal of pressure is placed on educators to meet the standards of the tests or face consequences.

While the tests measure reading, math, language skills, and science — they leave out creativity. The tests force a shift in priorities, and with a tight economy (on in the case of California a budget in shambles after years of fiscal mismanagement), things like music, art, drama, and other pursuits fall by the wayside.

One of the things I love about the fourth season of "The Wire" is not just the exploration of the flaws in the overall education system, but the increased difficulty of trying to reach kids for whom the prospect of using their education to escape the pitfalls of life on the street doesn't seem like a legitimate possibility.

In the season, the audience is introduced to four eighth-graders, all of whom are on the brink of falling into the roles they will play the rest of their lives. They are four very different boys, with different backgrounds, different personalities, and different approaches. But all of them face the same hurdles. And "The Wire" doesn't sugar coat it. In life, there are not always happy endings. The same holds true in this show.

I've mentioned before that one of the things I was most drawn to in "The Blind Side" was the idea of a talented young man with no options and no hope being plucked from obscurity and given the support and encouragement to shine. Though it's the kind of powerful, emotional story of triumph we all gravitate toward, I couldn't help but wonder how many kids just like him don't get that same chance. Clearly the filmmakers felt the same way, because the closing narration by Sandra Bullock talks about reading about another young man, much like Michael Oher, who didn't make it out.

The fourth season of "The Wire" shows you four Michael Ohers. Not because of their athletic talent, but because of their drive, intelligence and capacity to achieve. But they don't all get that chance.

I was blessed in my high school experience to have a lot of options. I played in the marching band and in the jazz band. I took advanced placement courses in math, history, English, and science. I was part of dramatic productions, I took speech and, probably most important of all, I was able to explore my creative talents as a part of the school newspaper.

I worry today that with all the emphasis on test scores and flagging budgets that the next generation of kids won't have those same opportunities. Who knows what kind of talent we'll squander if we let that happen on our watch.