Frederick Wiseman

When Frederick Wiseman's 1969 documentary, High School, was released, reviewer Joseph Morgenstern noted that "if the public schools...are as bad as High School suggests they are, this nation is chopping up its youth in a gigantic garbage disposal... (Newsweek 1969).
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In High School II, Wiseman looks at how the high school experience has changed in 25 years.

This time, instead of a suburban school of the '70s, with a rigid curriculum and an authoritarian atmosphere, he visits Central Park East Secondary School, an urban school in East Harlem with mostly minority and low-income students.

Among some memorable scenes: a teenage mother discusses with her family and principal the problems she might encounter when she returns to school; students in an English class debate whether the American dream is still alive; a tearful youngster defends himself as his teacher and grandmother tell him of their disappointment in his schoolwork; teachers meet with counselors to discuss the ways of instructing kids in the use of condoms.

The cumulative effect of viewing the three and one-half hours of High School II suggests not that school is chewing kids up and spitting them out, but rather that teachers and parents are doing what they can to make their children strong enough to hold together against societal assaults.Their primary technique: discussion, dialogue, seemingly endless conversation that eventually draws even the most reluctant participant in.The kids are engaged, optimistic, idealistic, and sometimes inarticulate as the camera watches.

High School II is a success story, but not a public relations victory for all public schools.Central Park East has a dropout rate of 5 percent versus the citywide rate of 40 percent, and 90 percent of its graduates attend college.