It seems as though all the really big publicity for the anti-union, anti-public school film “Won’t Back Down” is coming from parents and teachers. Here is a review by a parent.
But that really isn’t so, as NBC’s Education Nation is making a big deal of it, and will have a private screening at the New York Public Library for the upper crust. And you can bet that all the corporate funded activists who want to privatize public education will try to turn this into the fiction version of “Waiting for Superman.” Well, same producer, same goal.
This writer, who was president of her school’s PTA, says the movie demonizes the union. She wonders how the actors–who all belong to the Screen Actors Guild–feel about making a movie that attacks another union.
She writes:
I am all for parent power. I am all for getting rid of the crappy, demoralizing teachers who should not be allowed to step foot in a classroom. But, this movie made me sad. I was really hopeful in the beginning of the film because it was about teachers and parents working together – not something you usually see in movies. This wasn’t some public school movie where the wide-eyed liberal white teacher swoops in to the minority student school and teaches them violin and magically makes their lives better. We don’t need any more of those either. But, this was really a giant anti-union propaganda film that missed the mark. And that’s too bad because it had the chance to really say something about how parents and teachers can make change – and how hard it really is to find great leadership, and what can happen if we put kids first. There was NO mention of lack of funding at the school by the way, or lack of professional development for teachers, after school programs, etc. Seems if you just hang lots of butterflies in the hallway and paint the halls you make a great new school. That’s an insult to all the parents and teachers who really do work their butts off to make their schools better everyday.
But then, what would you expect from a movie funded by Philip Anschutz, a billionaire who funds anti-public school think tanks and other causes whose goal is to decimate the public sector and privatize everything?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The talk about the anti-union film reminds me our experience in NYC with another Hollywood film about another school”–Central Park East, starring Meryl Streep.and called “Music of the Heart”. It claims not merely to “be based-on” but to be an actual true story! It pits two music teachers against each other at the time of a financial crisis, with the heroine (Roberta) fired because of union rules, leaving the regular music teacher (Barry) in place. (It has a happy ending when private funds save her.) The decision–made by staff, parents and kids–to stick with Barry, not Roberta, was because he was a great, relentlessly dedicated and superb musician. He taught music to every single kid–at least once a week–to sing and play the recorder, produced musicals and operas, ran two non-audition choruses, held an all-school sing every Friday morning (and covered all our staff prep periods). Yes, he had been also with us since the school’s third year of existence. Roberta worked part-time, taught maybe 50-60 kids to play the violin…. We gambled on her (her son was in our school), and were delighted. The string program started–and which spread to other schools, was also a real asset. Our choice was a no-brainer. (Actually it wasn’t a choice at all.) Yes, seniority and tenure matter, but it required an incredible stretch of the truth to turn this into a fight about seniority! But, the movie makers had their agenda, and couldn’t resist inventing an anti-union subplot. By misrepresenting the gifts of one teacher and then bringing the union in to save his job was ugly in so many ways–to Barry, CPE, the Union and The Truth. Another one of those “myths” that creates deliberate damage. The true story was just as incredible, but would have reminded the public of the tough choices underfunded schools must make., and of how one public school worked together to do what was both right and best for all.
LikeLike
I wish someone would make a movie about a school where parents and teachrs come together and refuse to take their states standardized test. Who could play parents and teachers? Awh and maybe Rhee could make an apperance as the villan.
LikeLike
Somebody paint a Snidely Whiplash mustache on her!!
LikeLike
As a longtime urban public school parent, having experienced dozens and dozens of teachers and eight principals over 18 years, I am so pleased that fellow public school parent and supporter Rebecca Levey is letting others know that WBD is nothing more than a propaganda film.
FYI, Daniel Barnz, the director and co-writer of WBD, rewrote the original screenplay by Brin Hill. I am so curious about what Hill’s story originally was about. The possibility exists that this the case of a young ambitious director (Barnz) being willing to tailor a script to fit the production company’s propaganda goal in exchange for getting the opportunity to direct huge movie stars. After all, Walden Media’s CEO essentially admits that his company is intentionally producing a series of pro-charter, anti-public school system, anti-teacher union propaganda films.
“‘We realized the inherent limitations of the documentary format,’ said Michael Bostick, chief executive of Walden. Now, he said, the idea [with WBD] is to reach a larger audience through the power of actors… Working from an earlier script by Brin Hill, [Barnz] introduced the parent-trigger mechanism… ”
In other words, WBD was needed because “Waiting for Superman” didn’t make a big enough impact with its lies.
Incidentally, Daniel Barnz (previously Daniel Bernstein) is going around on the WBD publicity tour announcing that his parents are “teachers,” as if to suggest that he has a certain “in” and special sympathy for being involved with this story. But his parents are elite private college professors (Bryn Mawr, The New School) not K-12 public school teachers. In fact, just like so many of the corporate-style education reformers of today, Barnz does not have meaningful public school experience credentials, having attended a private Quaker school in an affluent suburb of Philadelphia (Friends Central, then Yale, then USC).
LikeLike
Why doesn’t someone do a reality show featuring the everyday lives of teachers, students, administrators, and parents. Cameras can be pointed down to not show students’ faces. Let everyone see the good, bad, frustrating life of school. See the overcrowded classrooms, students using phones daily, teachers going through the motions, teachers giving it all, students trying, not trying. Poor funding. no time to plan. take home work. LUNCH ROOMS. Teachers losing planning time because of covering classes because of no subs. impossible schedules. Yes, let everyone see it.
LikeLike
Bill, this isn’t a reality show in the making. I’m sure once privacy concerns are ironed out this will be the face of teacher evaluation. The community gets to rate the teacher.
If parents saw the real reality of some schools-there would be riots in the streets. OK maybe an exaggeration;but still.
LikeLike