RECENT NEWS
"For anyone interested in economic diversity in higher education — as I am — I recommend a new film that follows three high school students in Brooklyn as they try to navigate the application process. It’s called “Personal Statement” and ... (it) describes the hurdles that lower-income students face, from the lack of a single college counselor at many high schools to the byzantine misery of financial
aid forms...The film feels particularly timely in the wake of the college admissions scandal."
"That some rich families bribe their children’s way into college is the least of our problems. We’re more concerned by the college guidance gap and the maze of applying for financial aid. It shouldn’t be that difficult, fiscally or strategically, to get college advice and to fill out the Fafsa. Higher education’s admissions system should be designed to support our success, not to suppress it." - Enoch Jemmott
PERSONAL STATEMENT selected for 2020 American Library Association (ALA) Notable Videos for Adults: a list of 15 outstanding films that make a significant contribution to the world of video.
WHY WE HAD TO BE OUR OWN COLLEGE COUNSELORS
AND HOW CONGRESS CAN HELP
by Christine Rodriguez
"There’s been so much attention lately about the college admission scandal...But there’s a far bigger scandal that our leaders have long ignored: many high school seniors who deserve to attend college don’t have the advice and support that they need to get there...Students who are trying to become the first in their family to attend college often don’t have anyone at home who can help. So it is especially critical for them to get the help they need at school...
​
Only 9 percent of people in the lowest income quartile attain a bachelor’s degree by the time they turn 24, compared to 77 percent from the highest income quartile. We want to believe the American Dream is attainable for all, but how can we when what we really have is a birth lottery? We need to distribute resources more equitably, including allocating more funding for public education, targeting resources to the students who need them most, and making college affordable. The only way to truly have social mobility is to make college equally accessible to everyone."
Enoch Jemmott and Juliane Dressner were on the SwampED podcast with Reach Higher.
​
Reach Higher is Michelle Obama's initiative to inspire every student in America to take charge of their future by completing their education past high school.
​
Here's an excerpt:
Eric Waldo: "Watching this documentary for me was really important because... when I was in the federal government...
(I was) saying, "Oh, the FAFSA's easy, it only takes 20 minutes, don't worry, just do it." And watching your (Enoch's) process, watching what you had to go through, made me feel like I'd been lying to young people or at the very least not being honest with myself or my peers in government about how hard we are making it for young people to get access to the funds they need to get the education they want."
“'Personal Statement' tells the stories of three remarkable Brooklyn high school seniors who have to find their own way through the college application process and the struggles they face in school and at home."
"The challenging admissions journeys these three public high school seniors from Brooklyn face provide a dramatic story line for “Personal Statement,”
a stunning new documentary...
The film’s campaign for more guidance counselors correctly hits a nerve. A typical college counselor in a U.S. public high school is responsible for 482 students...the need for better resources and support for students pursuing higher education at every step of the way should be atop all of our agendas."
The Journal of College Admissions:
Making a Statement - New Documentary Highlights College Counseling Gap
​
​
Woodstock Film Festival Jury Citation -
Best Documentary Feature Honorable Mention
“We were so moved by this portrayal of these inspiring young high school students who work to mentor other at-risk high school students while simultaneously struggling to navigate the tangle of academic achievement, paperwork and bureaucracy necessary for them to reach for the stars themselves. The characters were so fresh and accessible. The filmmakers clearly established incredible trust with their subjects and their families. It was clear that we were witnessing the coming of age of our next generation of leaders and advocates, all emerging from extremely challenging and at times precarious circumstances.”
"While more than 90 percent of high school students want to go to college, many don’t achieve higher education. The National Center for Education Statistics found that only 14 percent of students of low socioeconomic status obtain their bachelor’s degree within eight years of graduating high school.
'What we find is the college counseling gap is a major cause of this achievement gap, and yet, many people are unaware of it,' Dressner said. 'When they’re made aware of it, from seeing the film and then hearing about these statistics and the situation, they’re outraged, and they want to do something about it.'”
"A special showing of the film, called Personal Statement, is planned for Monday, the observance of Martin Luther King’s Birthday. It will be followed by a forum on the need for more counselors in Philadelphia schools. Panelists will include City Council member Helen Gym, two of the young people profiled in the film, Philadelphia school counselor Tatiana Olmedo, and a youth organizer from Philadelphia Student Union.
The event will kick off a public awareness campaign to convince policymakers that the Philadelphia District needs more school counselors and that resources must be provided to hire them."
A call to action
"After the screening on MLK Day — which was co-sponsored by the Philadelphia Student Union, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools — and the associated panel discussion, which included one of the film’s subjects, Marcus encouraged supporters to:
-
Sign the Change.org petition, which urges the State of Pennsylvania and City of Philadelphia to provide additional funding for the School District of Philadelphia and school districts throughout the state to allocate more school counselors to public schools
-
Speak at school board meetings to reiterate the importance of lowering the counselor to student ratio
She also asked everyone to write a postcard to the governor with a suggested message reading: “We need an additional $510 million a year to fund our schools. Resources like school counselors are essential and a basic need, not an extra.”
The postcards will be hand-delivered to Governor Tom Wolf..."
"The movie, Personal Statement, taps into simmering tension about unequal access to college and the lack of guidance for low-income students... More than one-fifth of public high schools in the nation don’t have a guidance counselor, according to a report issued in 2016 by the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights. This statistic raises the question: how is higher education equally accessible when kids in high-poverty neighborhoods lack college guidance?"
"If we want to make America great again, let’s begin by making college accessible to everyone.
We need more college counselors in public schools to close the college guidance gap." - Karoline Jimenez
"Follow Karoline, Enoch, and Christine, three college-bound Brooklyn-based high school seniors who want to bring all of their classmates along with them. Recognizing the lack of college guidance support in their classrooms (much the same across the country), they become the change they seek, counseling their peers through the college entrance process. An inspiring look at social justice in action, Personal Statement reminds us of the immense change we are all capable of creating around us." - Milwaukee Independent
