“Won’t Back Down” is the fictional account of a school in Pennsylvania where a parent and a teacher utilize their version of “parent trigger” to remake their school.
The movie has turned out to be a box office bomb with the worst weekend opening ever. Critics also recognized the movie as right-wing propaganda.
While Hollywood uses a less than accurate portrayal of teachers and unions, this movie is an opportunity to discuss what is really needed to ensure that every school provides every child with the best possible education. And we also must ensure that “Won’t Back Down” doesn’t backslide our communities, parents and teachers into a “blame game.” Only by working together for solutions can we turn around failing schools.
National Education Policy Center. The NEPC has prepared a policy memo on the Parent Trigger that underscores how changing governance and converting to charter school status aren’t actually school reforms, and that rather than democratize the school, triggers will privatize it. The policy brief is a call to focus on real paths to school reform. It can be found at http://nepc.colorado.edu/files/pm-trigger-2012.pdf
WBD and ALEC. The Center for Media and Democracy, the creators of the ALECexposed website, have put out a piece documenting the links between WBD’s funder Phil Anschutz and ALEC. The version of the parent trigger that contains a voucher as one of the options is, of course, an ALEC model bill. The article also notes the role of one of Rupert Murdoch’s production companies in the movie, and notes that Murdoch’s NewsCorp is an ALEC member.
CMD’s piece is here: http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/09/11763/wont-back-down-film-pushes-alec-parent-trigger-proposal
