UFT Charter School Film

UFT Charter School Film

By HOWARD MEGDAL

A documentary about the charter school opened by the United Federation of Teachers last fall had its debut screening April 28 at the Tribeca Film Festival.

"Climbing to the Crest," written and directed by educator and film-maker Barbara Malmet, focuses on a day at the UFT Elementary Charter School in the East New York section of Brooklyn and the way it operates outside the Department of Education bureaucracy. It accepts students by lottery and currently has 150 students, evenly divided between kindergarten and first grade. It will eventually expand to 450 students and run through fifth grade.

The audience of 800 for the screening included UFT President Randi Weingarten and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton. A union spokesman said future screenings are planned, but no dates and locations have been set.