The Fight to Save Texas Public Schools: Chris Tritico on "The Long Game" Documentary

And welcome back to the Factor Uncensored. There is a new documentary that will soon be in wide release and it's getting rave reviews right here in the city of Houston. And it focuses on the education system. And a familiar face is the executive producer, that man, you know him, an attorney, Chris Tritico. Let's get to it. It's called The Long Game. And joining us on the Factor Uncensored, we have with us Sharon Ferranti and Chris Tritico. And Chris, you're playing a different role instead of attorney now. You're playing executive producer in this documentary, The Long Game. That's right. That's right, Isaiah. I stepped out of my role as a lawyer after just a mere 38 years. I decided to do something different and produce this movie. You know, I represented teachers in school districts and the interest of public educators my entire career. And I've watched that whole time that the leadership of our state, the state of Texas, just decimate public education. And I was tired of watching the state and the governor of Texas try to kill public education, which is exactly what the goal is, is to kill public education. And I couldn't take it anymore. So I decided to make make a documentary about it. And that's that's what we've done. And Sharon, you're one of the directors and I want to tell you both. So I was in the grocery store, H.E.B., and a prominent Houstonian came up to me and this was Sunday. And he said, Isaiah, you've got to see this new documentary. It is mind blowing. So you're getting rave reviews already, Sharon. And so your thoughts, what do you want to focus on or what do you want the audience to focus on and to walk away when they see this documentary? I want the audience to walk away ready to do something. I want them to take action. And what I want them to understand that is happening already now is teachers are being replaced with AI in classrooms. And that is going to accelerate and spread. Once that happens, corporations will be in charge of public education and they will decide what goes into those machines that gets taught to children. And Sharon, we've already seen the inclusion of artificial intelligence in the curriculum and education of students in the Chicago area. When you take a look at AI and many of the other issues impacting our children in schools, is it just Texas? Or are you giving us a broad picture of what's around the country and what's to come? Thank you for that question, because, yes, we focused on Texas because the problem is so imminent here with state takeovers spreading like a cancer across the state. Every large and medium district is a threat for takeover. Once takeovers happen, the trustees, the board of the elected board is stripped of their power, so they no longer have any voice. that's when this ai on every level can be implemented so there's no question in my mind whatsoever that this will spread to the rest of the country uh very fast and chris what made you interested in being a part of this documentary obviously you've been an attorney uh for four decades now and you're branching out but what message because you've been boots on the ground with educators here in Texas representing them. What message did you want to convey to the public that you thought was so important that you decided to put your money behind this and your support and push this documentary, a form of journalism, if you will? So don't be mistaken. This was me doing this. This was my idea. And I not only pushed it, I came up with it. And I decided this had to be done right now. And when I watched, I have watched the state of Texas, the governor, the legislature, take money out of the system, decimate the system. And in school districts that want to do the right thing, struggle to be able to do what's right. and teachers not able to do what they can to teach children because of the laws that the legislature is are passing and we can't we can't we're not educating children anymore in texas we don't we we don't teach them how to how to debate we don't teach them skills we teach them how to take how to take one single test and they do that all year long that's all we teach anymore is test it's to take a test I'm tired of it I can't take it anymore and so I waited and waited and waited for anybody to do anything about it and nobody did so finally I said I'm going to do something about this and that's when I called my son who's the assistant director on the film and he brought Sharon in who's made four feature films and I said this is what I want this is how I want it done and Sharon went to work and she and my son mate they're they're the they're the They're the entire production crew on this film, and Sharon and my son made this film. And really quick, guys, where can we find the website to figure out the next screening, when, what time, where? So, go ahead. There's two places. Our website is thelonggamedocumentary.com, thelonggamedocumentary.com. We also have a Facebook group called The Long Game Texas Public Schools Documentary. And so to the extent that we're able to keep it up minute to minute, we've got the info there and we'll be updating as often as possible. And we'll do what we can to make those longer. There you go. All right, Chris Tritico, Sharon Ferranti, thank you both for joining us here to tell us about this new documentary that people are already talking about. There's a buzz out in the streets, The Long Game. Thank you for joining us here on The Factor Uncensored. We appreciate your time.