Tavares Gross is just starting first grade — but he's already way behind. He doesn't know his letters. He doesn't even know what a book is for. And Tavares is not alone. Across the country, schools are struggling with their most basic job: teaching kids to read. Thirty-six percent of all fourth graders read below the "basic" level, meaning they can't understand a simple story, or they can barely read at all. What does it really take to turn our schools around?
In this PBS special, Academy Award-winner Morgan Freeman is the narrator of A Tale of Two Schools, a one-hour documentary that tells the intimate story of a tumultuous year at two vulnerable schools. It's a tale of hope, of faith, and of the power of committed adults to help shape the life of a child.