Thursday, March 28, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Friday, September 28, 2012
Hollywood Steps Up in "Won't Back Down"
By Heritage Foundation @ 2:10 PM :: 5036 Views :: National News, Ethics

Hollywood Steps Up in "Won't Back Down"

www.Heritage.org

A new movie opens in theaters today that couldn't be more timely. The school year is hitting its stride, and the teachers union in Chicago just captured the national spotlight by strong-arming that city to meet its demands—at the expense of students and taxpayers.

The time is ripe for a story like Won't Back Down, starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis as mothers who can't stand to watch their school fail any longer.

Gyllenhaal's character is a single mom advocating for better educational opportunities for her child. Davis plays a teacher in the school who wants to improve it. This is a crucial partnership: parents and teachers working together to create a better future for students. While teachers unions have already denounced the movie, Heritage education expert Lindsey Burke has urged that criticizing unions and criticizing teachers are not one in the same.

Criticizing education unions for standing in the way of reform should not be conflated with criticizing teachers… The unions have blocked reforms such as performance pay and charter schools…have opposed alternative teacher certification that would help mid-career professionals enter the classroom, and have consistently fought the implementation of school choice options for children.

Rather, the message of Won't Back Down is one of empowering parents. In the film, parents are attempting to "take over" the school, referring to a type of law called a parent trigger law. Seven states have a version of this law, which gives parents the power to intervene in failing schools. If a majority of parents in a school want to reform it, these laws give them options, often including converting the school into a charter school and replacing school staff.

Charter schools are typically run by non-profit community organizations, freed from the regulatory burdens on public schools. Heritage's Jason Richwine has explained that "Charters have more leeway to experiment with different teaching methods, curriculum content, disciplinary procedures, and levels of parental involvement." Parents have reported very high satisfaction with charter schools.

The state of public education is ripe for reform. Just look at this year's trends:

Public school per-student spending is at an all-time high. Nationally, average per-pupil spending exceeds $11,400 this year.

SAT scores are at a 40-year low. This is only one marker of where the education system stands. Burke reminds us that "graduation rates have been stagnant since the 1970s, reading and math achievement has been virtually flat over the same time period, and American students still rank in the middle of the pack compared to their international peers."

Teachers unions are losing members. The National Education Association expects it will lose 308,000 members in the next couple of years.

Support for school choice is at an all-time high. Forty-four percent of Americans now favor allowing taxpayer dollars spent on education to follow the student, enabling them to choose a private school to attend if they desire. As Burke reports, "School choice favorability has jumped 10 percentage points since last year, a sign that the proliferation of options such as vouchers, education savings accounts, and online learning is creating a welcome choice for families across the country."

Viola Davis, one of the stars of Won't Back Down, expressed the desire of so many parents recently when she told Jay Leno:

I am a parent. And as a parent, I have a child and I know that the only way she's going to get a part of the American Dream is through education. And so if that great education is a public school, I'm going to send my kid to the public school. If that great education is a charter school, I'm going to send my kid to a charter school. If it's a private school, I'll send her to a private school. I think that it's about wanting do what's best for your kid.

Read the real-life story of the first school in the country where parents successfully used the parent trigger to convert a failing public school into a charter school.

---30---

FEATURED POSTS

QUICK HITS

  • See what Chip Flaherty of Walden Media, which produced Won't Back Down, had to say about the movie when he visited Heritage this week. Watch the video.
  • Students at a New Jersey high school are considering a "lunch strike" in protest of restrictive federal guidelines stemming from first lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" campaign.
  • The Weekly Standard's Mark Hemingway explains how media "fact checkers" made themselves of service to President Obama in the welfare reform debate.
  • Following next week's presidential debate in Denver, conservatives will gather at the first-ever CPAC Colorado. Heritage has six speakers on the agenda. Advance registration rates expire Sunday.
  • With today's debut of Won't Back Down in theaters, Heritage's Lindsey Burke will answer your questions in an online chat about education reform at noon ET today.
Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

808 Silent Majority

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federalist Society

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Homeschool Association

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Smokers Alliance

Hawaii State Data Lab

Hawaii Together

HIEC.Coop

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Moms for Liberty

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

Investigative Project on Terrorism

July 4 in Hawaii

Kakaako Cares

Keep Hawaii's Heroes

Land and Power in Hawaii

Legislative Committee Analysis Tool

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

Malama Pregnancy Center of Maui

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Military Home Educators' Network Oahu

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Christian Foundation Hawaii

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

No GMO Means No Aloha

Not Dead Yet, Hawaii

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Oahu Alternative Transport

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

OurFutureHawaii.com

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

PEACE Hawaii

People vs Machine

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

P.U.E.O.

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

ReRoute the Rail

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

Robotics Organizing Committee

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Sink the Jones Act

Statehood for Guam

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

UCC Truths

US Tax Foundation Hawaii Info

VAREP Honolulu

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii

Yes2TMT