Former Marine Louanne Johnson lands a gig teaching in a pilot program for bright but underachieving teens at a notorious inner-city high school. After having a terrible first day, she decides she must throw decorum to the wind. When Johnson returns to the classroom, she does so armed with a no-nonsense attitude informed by her military training and a fearless determination to better the lives of her students -- no matter what the cost.

A couple of friends work for a taxi driver to rob his passengers, but they feel like they're getting ripped off. They decide to plan their own robberies, but they are amateurs and things don't go too well. One of the youths, Cordoba, whose girlfriend Sandra is pregnant, just wants to get enough cash so they can leave Argentina and get to Uruguay to start a new life. He and his friends plan one last robbery, but things don't go as planned.

Three very different Los Angeles teenage girls find themselves pregnant and dealing with poverty, drugs and confusion. Shanika (Tamara LaSeon Bass) has a drug addict for a mother and is currently living in a foster home. Araceley (Tonatzin Mondragon) tries living with her loser and broke boyfriend after her parents kick her out of their house out of shame. Tina (Keely Vint), born to a teenage mother herself, isn't sure who the father of her child is.