Even though it's a fictional story, teachers unions are outraged by a new movie about school parents standing up to the education establishment.
Don't Back Down depicts a frustrated school mother who tries to apply the "parent trigger" law, which enables parents to take over failing public schools. Kyle Olson of the Education Action Group Foundation (EAG) says the unions are doing everything they can to discredit this movie.
"They don't want these types of stories told. They're doing everything they can to attempt to expose who made the movie … their ideological persuasion and that sort of thing," he details. "They're doing everything they can to attempt to maintain that monopoly that they've had for many, many years."
Olson notes a real-life example of Don't Back Down taking place at a school in Arizona.
"The union there, it's been said in court, went out and got signatures fraudulently," the EAG spokesman reports. "The school board has refused to certify the petitions, and I think it all comes down to they don't want to show that parents can be successful."
Though unions complain about the lack of parent involvement in education, Olson tells OneNewsNow they typically resist serious attempts by parents who try to bring about change.
Parent trigger laws are in place in California, Texas and Louisiana and are being considered by three other states.