For decades there has been a movement to end public education, to get the government out of the business of schools. The goal? To allow private business to take it over for profit.
Until 2009 it had been a movement lurking in the background, but with Arne Duncan's appointment as Secretary of Education it came to the foreground.
Billionaire Eli Broad made it clear that his appointment was a signal to the education "reformers" that the way was clear.
His words:
The election of President Barack Obama and his appointment of Arne Duncan, former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, as the U.S. secretary of education, marked the pinnacle of hope for our work in education reform. In many ways, we feel the stars have finally aligned.
With an agenda that echoes our decade of investments—charter schools, performance pay for teachers, accountability, expanded learning time and national standards—the Obama administration is poised to cultivate and bring to fruition the seeds we and other reformers have planted.
And the movie Won't Back Down is part of that movement. In fact when Eli Broad made his huge donation to the astroturf parents group backing the parent trigger, he said
that it was to help get more charter schools. Not a word about helping public schools.
Parents Across America points out how much the new parent trigger movie Won't Back Down differs from the real world.
Fact-checking “Won’t Back Down” Parent Trigger propaganda flickWith the star power of “Won’t Back Down,” this far-right-funded propaganda film — starring Maggie Gyllenhaal, Holly Hunter and Viola Davis — may get some attention and reviews. For those in search of the truth, here’s a brief response to the movie’s version of events, as shown (so far) in the trailer. The movie purports to be “inspired by real events,” which would have to mean the 2010 Parent Trigger drive launched against McKinley Elementary School in Compton, Calif.
..."Film version: The trailer shows parents, led by the Gyllenhaal character, mobilizing valiantly to take over their school — and only much later contacting an outside organizer for extra support.
Reality: The Parent Trigger attempt at McKinley Elementary School was entirely orchestrated by outsiders – the staff of Parent Revolution, the Los Angeles organization that first proposed the legislation that created the Parent Trigger. Parent Revolution looked around the state for a school to target, chose McKinley and pre-selected a charter school operator called Celerity to take it over. Parent Revolution sent paid operatives door to door in Compton with petitions. Only then did any parents at McKinley even hear about the petition drive, according to the Los Angeles Weekly, which covered the story in detail.
..."Film version: The trailer shows parents determined to take over the school, against all odds.
Reality: In Compton, there was no discussion of parents taking over the school. The Parent Trigger attempt was intended from the beginning to turn the school over to the Celerity charter school operator.
It's all another effort to divert public funds, taxpayer money, to private businesses who want to profit from public education with no oversight or regulation.