Synopsis/Details
Teacher’s Lounge - High Stakes Testing
The quirky staff at a failing urban middle school bumble their way through high-stakes testing.
Teacher’s Lounge is a serialized situational comedy that highlights the exploits and explicit confessions of a middle school staff in half-hour scripted episodes. The through-line of the first season is the COMEDY of inter-office squabbling captured in a single-camera format.
"I HAVE NEVER LET MY SCHOOLING INTERFERE WITH MY EDUCATION." (Mark Twain)
THE STORY:
When the state takes over a failing middle school it sends in cameras to observe the deteriorating situation. The mockumentary style mimics reality TV using intrusive cameras and interviews to reveal the quirks of the staff at Ferret Urban Middle School.
None of the staff at FUMS wants the state breathing down their neck, especially the assistant principal PEDRO FLORES, a yuppie womanizer who lusts for an upper management spot at the district office. Popular but frustrated teacher CHRIS O’MALLEY does his best to actually educate his students and help them realize their full potential. Despite disapproving of the assistant principal’s indiscretions, the two often team up to improve student performance.
However, union activist teacher CAMERON HOWZER has his own agenda that often pits him against Miguel. Howzer likes to make mountains out of molehills in order to flex union power. He goes out of his way to file teacher grievances. In addition, he takes pleasure in being a department head so he can lord it over O’Malley and his other colleagues.
The madhouse school is set in a poverty-ridden neighborhood. FUMS suffers from rampant vandalism, delinquent students, and frequent break-ins. For some staff members, the teacher’s lounge is a refuge and place to unload the horrors of the day. It’s also the eye of the storm for a complex hierarchy of competing political ideologies, sexual indiscretions, and tales of pubescent angst. Episodes feature key locations including the main office, classrooms, and the lounge itself as the hub for staff.
Teacher’s Lounge is a platform illuminating the humorous side of public education. It shows how hard educators work to meet the expectations put on them, and why they sometimes fail.
Ever wonder what teachers really thought of you at school?
