Walmart, Right-Wing Media Company Hold Star-Studded Benefit Promoting Education Reform Film

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http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/13643/walmart_anschutz_teachers_rock_wont_back_down_union_parent_trigger_viola_da/


Viola Davis, shown here with her SAG award for Outstanding Performance by an Female Actor in a Leading Performance for "The Help," will be appearing soon in anti-teachers union propaganda at a theater near you. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images)

The world’s largest private-sector employer and the country’s most prominent conservative entertainment company have teamed up to sponsor a fundraiser called “Teachers Rock.” Backed by Walmart and Anschutz Film Group, the August 14 event will feature live performances from musicians like Josh Groban and appearances from actresses like Viola Davis; it will be broadcast August 18 as a CBS special with messages from actresses like Meryl Streep. And it will promote the upcoming feature film Won’t Back Down, Anschutz’s entry in the “education reform” wars.

Won’t Back Down is reportedly a highly sympathetic fictional portrayal of “parent trigger” laws, a major flashpoint in debates over education and collective bargaining. Under such laws, the submission of signatures from a majority of parents in a school triggers a “turnaround option,” which can mean the replacement of a unionized school with a non-union charter. Such laws have been passed in several states, but due to court challenges, the "trigger" process has never been fully implemented.

“It's another Waiting for Superman," says Jose Vilson, a New York City math teacher and board member of the Center for Teacher Quality. "You have these popular actors, who as well-intentioned as they may be, they may not know all the facts, but they’re willing to back up a couple of corporate friends or people maybe they've become familiar with" in "trying to promote this sort of vision."

Parent trigger is one of the model bills pushed by the right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Adamantly opposed by teachers unions, parent trigger bills (as I’ve reported for Salon) have often been spearheaded and supported by Democratic politicians. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed slamming teachers unions, Campbell Brown highlighted Won’t Back Down as evidence that “teachers unions have become a ripe target for reformers across the ideological spectrum” and Hollywood “has turned on unions.”

[Ezlivin]

1. Glad I don't have kids in school

Hell, I'm glad I never had kids.

Our education system is being dismantled and the end result will not be pretty.

[Erose999]

2. Where have I heard the name "Anschutz" before? It sounds familiar

I just heard an ad promoting this union busting crapfest on Spotify.

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3. i can't believe they're getting SAG members to attack another union.

CALLING DR. DAMON. CALLING DR. MATT DAMON! EMERGENCY STAT!

[Erose999]

4. To answer my own question, they were involved with the "Atlas Shrugged" movie last year. And they're

also owners of a couple of sports stadiums, a stake in a lot of sports teams, and the Coachella music festival. They're one of the largest event promotion organizations in the world.

Scum of the Earth, basically.

[Erose999]

5. New ad says Dave Grohl and Maggie Jyllenhall are involved with this BS too. Excuse me while I go

burn my copy of "Secretary".

"The left" really needs to get out in front of this union-busting agenda, and the acceptance of it by popular culture.

[Starry Messenger]

6. +1

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7. +2