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I want to share two things I know will inspire and challenge you. The first is a movie – and the second is a recent New York Times column.

One month from today – Friday, September 28 – the movie “Won’t Back Down” will be released across the country. The movie is a G-rated version of reality – and it’s a definite “must see.”

The movie tells the story of a parent – played by Maggie Gyllenhaal – who joins forces with a teacher – played by Viola Davis – to fix their children’s struggling school.

Not only is the movie inspirational, it was inspired by true events. Here’s a trailer.

Over the last two years, parents in the California communities of Compton and Adelanto have organized using the power of the Parent Trigger law to gain power to transform their children’s failing schools.

Even though they faced fierce opposition from school board members, district staff, administrators and the teacher’s union, the parents in these communities refused to back down. In Adelanto, a judge recently handed down a major court decision supporting the parents at Desert Trails Elementary School. The judge ruled they had the right to transform the failing school.

New York Times columnist Frank Bruni recently wrote about the parent empowerment movement and “Parent Trigger” legislation which gives parents the legal right to transform failing schools so their children have every opportunity to succeed.

Please take a few minutes to read the Bruni column here. Like the movie, it also inspires us to actively support parents in communities all across the country whose states should also pass Parent Trigger laws - so they too can transform their children’s failing schools.

I hope you will see “Won’t Back Down” when it’s released next month.

And when you’ve seen the movie, please go to our web site – www.parentrevolution.org -- and sign-up to show your support for all of the parents who want a better school for their kids.

You’ll be glad you did.

Best regards,

Ben Austin
Executive Director
Parent Revolution