The Atlantic

Where the 'Bad Kids' Go to School

A 2016<em> </em>documentary magnifies an often ignored part of the education world.
Source: wavebreakmedia / Skylines / Porfang / Shutterstock / Low Key Pictures / Zak Bickel / The Atlantic

This is the first installment in our series examining the intersections of education and entertainment in 2016. Check back for more entries on late-night comedy, a play, animated movies, and television.

The directors behind 2002’s critically acclaimed Lost in La Mancha are the unlikely providers of one of 2016’s best films about education. To be fair, it’s not a vast category. But Keith Fulton and Lou Pepe’s examination of how poverty—and its various manifestations—can derail adolescence in The Bad Kids is a thought-provoking, gut-wrenching, and, at times, cautiously hopeful, look at a part of the U.S. education system many people would rather ignore.

About 125 miles east of Los Angeles

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