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In 2002 Microsoft Corporation partnered with the Philadelphia Public School District – a district with a 58% graduation rate – to build and design a hi-tech state-of-the-art general enrollment high school in one of Philadelphia's poorest neighborhoods, set to open September 7th, 2006. In 2005 I met Mary Cullinane, Director of Microsoft's US Partners in Learning, and she asked if I'd be interested in making a short film about the school. 4021 PARKSIDE AVE. is a documentary that's funded by Microsoft but takes a critical look at the “School of the Future” and the privatization of public education in Philadelphia. It blurs the boundaries between the documentary and industrial forms with its honest look at the issues and ironic use of images, text and music. One of the poorest school districts in the country is outsourcing education to one of the richest corporations in the world. Is this the future of public education?
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