Pedro Santana was an educator who thought outside of the box. After a 2014 prologue, talent manager Lillian LaSalle's directorial debut begins in 2011 while he was serving as assistant superintendent for New York's East Ramapo Central School District. His concern for children, he explains, springs from his experience as a special education student. He grew up poor in the Bronx with five siblings and a drug-addicted father (in the film, his father appears clean and sober). Santana stuttered, had trouble reading, and could let anger and frustration get the best of him. Yvonne Torres, his elementary school teacher from third through sixth grade, saw his potential and worked with him to overcome these obstacles. She noticed, for instance, that his stutter disappeared when he acted in school plays, so she encouraged his dramatic tendencies. The two would continue to stay in touch.
LaSalle also speaks with his brother, sisters, parents, and students, though there's no mention of his wife, Angie, an odd omission, especially since their children, Alexa and Hudson, appear in the film. Much like his father, Hudson's early years would prove challenging to the extent that he once called the cops on his father in a fit of anger (though Santana would forgive his son, the stunt adversely effected his career). After high school, Santana served in the Peace Corps, attended Columbia University's Teachers College, and taught in the Bronx for nine years. He went on to become a principal with a record of such success that The New York Times ran a feature on him, which brought national attention to his belief that all students should be treated as unique individuals.
Since East Ramapo's Orthodox Jewish population relies on private schools or yeshivas, their influence would lead to a series of cuts to the district's public schools, which serve many students of color. In the process, school board meetings became particularly heated. Former superintendent Ira Oustatcher says that he hired Santana as a sort of peacemaker, but when the school board pushes him out, things quickly go south for Santana, as well. LaSalle captures the emotional meetings, in which parents, students, and even one of the Orthodox board members speak out on Santana's behalf, but the body dismisses him on a technicality. Afterward, he works as an educational consultant in Haiti before accepting an assignment in Dubai, but just as he's preparing to leave, he receives a devastating diagnosis. LaSalle catches up with him as he starts to make plans for his last act, which includes a public screening of the film on which she's been working.
She ends with testimony from students, in addition to a few notable figures, like Rosie Perez and Aasif Mandvi, about the value of educators like Santana. This epilogue feels a little out of the place, since the rest of the film focuses so closely on one individual, but it emphasizes that there are inspiring educators everywhere, even if most of them will never achieve the same kind of fame. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P.