The movie “Won’t Back Down” opens this Friday with an inspiring message about education reform. At today’s Bloggers Briefing, Chip Flaherty, executive vice president and publisher at Walden Media, will talk about the film and its important message. Watch it live at noon ET on Heritage’s Livestream channel.
The movie is already generating buzz for the conflict that exists between two determined parents — a bartender played by Maggie Gyllenhaal and a teacher played by Viola Davis — and officials at the failing inner-city school. Unafraid to challenge the school’s bureaucracy and corruption, Gyllenhall and Davis take on the teacher’s union president (played by Holly Hunter) and the school’s principal.
Last week on “The Tonight Show,” Jay Leno asked Davis about the controversial nature of the movie. She responded with a passionate defense of school choice:
I am a parent. And as a parent, I have a child and I know that the only way she’s going to get a part of the American Dream is through education. And so if that great education is a public school, I’m going to send my kid to the public school. If that great education is a charter school, I’m going to send my kid to a charter school. If it’s a private school, I’ll send her to a private school.
I think that it’s about wanting do what’s best for your kid.
Also at today’s Bloggers Briefing, we’ll hear from Kate Obenshain, vice president of Young America’s Foundation. She’s the author of the new book, “Divider-in-Chief: The Fraud of Hope and Change.”
And finally, Will McBride, chief economist at the Tax Foundation, will discuss a new project called “Putting a Face on America’s Tax Returns.” It’s a series of charts highlighting who pays what when it comes to income taxes.
The Bloggers Briefing was founded in May 2006 as a weekly policy discussion for conservative bloggers and journalists. Follow the action on Livestream or ask a question on Twitter using the hashtag #BloggersBriefing.