New Leadership Charter School Closes
New Leadership Charter School, a grade 6>12 school with approximately 600 students located near the X in Springfield, Massachusetts, was shut down by the state of Massachusetts. Students, parents and teachers caravanned to the Department of Secondary Education in Boston for a hearing on the school’s closure. Amongst them was Wade Wofford, teacher of 9th and 10th grade English and teacher representative on the school’s Board of Directors. At the hearing, DESE allowed 3 speakers 3 minutes each to speak in support of their school. At the conclusion of their 9 minutes, the gavel came down; the school is closed.
It was this moment that inspired Wofford (URBAN ED's Writer/Director/Producer) to begin the script that would become our film.