Won’t Back Down’s Teaching Moment: Hollywood goes back to school

It’s called freedom. It’s called liberty. Right now what we have is tyranny in education. From the National Review:

Won’t Back Down,” released in theaters [Friday, September 28], has teachers’ unions furious because of its positive portrayal of school choice. The movie, about a failing public school in Pittsburgh, stars Oscar nominees Viola Davis and Maggie Gyllenhaal, and was produced by Walden Media and 20th Century Fox. Walden’s president, Micheal Flaherty, talks with National Review Online’s Kathryn Jean Lopez on his and our vested interest in the project.

KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ: Who can’t back down when it comes to education?

MICHEAL FLAHERTY: State and federal legislators need to make sure that parents have as much choice as possible over their kids’ education. Too often parents — particularly poor and minority parents — have to rely 100 percent on luck in a system where their odds are about the same as what they would get at the blackjack table. Parents are the only people who have no conflict of interest when it comes to education. Their decision is solely based on what is in the best interest of the child. The more power and choice we give parents, the more opportunity we will have for their kids as well as other people’s children. But we need to make sure that city, state, and local governments give them the tools they need.

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