Parent trigger on the silver screen
Over the weekend, I went to see Won't Back Down, a new movie portraying the struggles of parents whose children have been zoned into failing schools by their local school district monopoly.If you haven't seen the film, go see it. Whether you're a true education reformer or a union/establishment apologist, this movie is definitely worth seeing. Perhaps most telling is this line from Ving Rhames: "It's possible to criticize and support teachers unions."
While the film itself is profound and powerful, what's most interesting is the public policy at the heart of its story: parent-trigger laws. (I recently wrote about the promise of parent-trigger laws over at npri.org.) After all, Won't Back Down is a fictional adaptation of a true story that occurred in Southern California after parents and lawmakers became frustrated with the tolerance for failure in their public school system and searched for some method of recourse.
Here's a short interview with the real-life mother who inspired the making of Won't Back Down:
