Based on True Events? - Won't Back Down (2012) Discussion

[–] lil_ray4000 12 years ago

pretty sure they change the name of the school, teachers, and the city it takes place in in order to protect the school

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[–] csstrowbridge 12 years ago

They probably did that because in real life, the carter school did worse than the public school it replaced.

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[–] justinmacri2032 12 years ago

How what happend?

Bond James Bond

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[–] csstrowbridge 12 years ago

At the end of the first year, the standardized test scores were a little worse than when it was run as a public school.

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[–] nidii 11 years ago

If that's true, way to go for the charter. They succeeded in one year only to get test scores "a little worse" after the public messed it up for 19 years.
So...
This was one of the most inspiring movies I've ever seen.

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[–] nemetzlj 10 years ago

Was that school named for President Carter? Like Adams in the movie? Because cHarter schools beat unionized schools hands down. It's called incentive to do something, versus job preservation for bad teachers.

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[–] csstrowbridge 10 years ago

"Because cHarter schools beat unionized schools hands down."

No they don't. On average, they perform worse that public schools.

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[–] cliff-hartle 12 years ago

I saw a preview and I'm like hey they are on the incline and I see Fifth Ave Place (Looks like a Philips screwdriver) in the background and I'm like OK another movie shot in Pittsburgh. I wonder where its supposed to be set.

Next shot, I see very prominent Black and Gold Pittsburgh Steelers wall hanging. So unless there is another city in the US with a football team with black and gold colors and named the Steelers, its based in Pittsburgh.

If you read the post here titled "they shot in my building" they renamed a building Allegheny something or other. Pittsburgh is in Allegheny County.

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[–] xmonn 12 years ago

It is based on a law passed in California that has yet to be tested.

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[–] movie_fan59 12 years ago

"It is based on a law passed in California that has yet to be tested."

Yet to be tested?

Ever hear of Adelanto? The parents there are fighting like crazy to take over schools and the school board, at the behest of the unions is fighting them tooth and nail.

Ever hear of Compton? Same thing. 61% of parents at McKinley Elementary signed the petition. The board launched a disinformation campaign and convinced a number of parents to revoke their signatures (in the Adelanto case, the State Supreme Court ruled that's not allowable). The school board demanded photo identification for signature validation, also an illegal demand. Ultimately the petition was disallowed and a charter school opened nearby. Time will tell if that charter school is better or worse than McKinley.

Jules Winnfield: "I'm sorry, did I break your concentration?"

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[–] jeopardy23 12 years ago

Why didn't they at least set the movie in a state that had a school trigger law?

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[–] monstermayhem32 12 years ago

If the film was based on True Events, I wonder who the actual story was based on.

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[–] pinktacos 12 years ago

It's not based on true events but fantasy. The root cause of poorly-performing students is poorly-performing parents, who have little respect for education.

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[–] CrimsonQ 12 years ago

I'll have to disagree. If a student has a poor teacher, they will suffer.

Only zombies star in zombie movies. Everyone else is fodder.

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[–] whitecats 12 years ago

BS

My brother went to one of the worst school systems in the country and he is a physician at Johns Hopkins. The #1 contributor of performance is a student's desire to achieve. #2 is parental support.

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[–] CrimsonQ 12 years ago

One example does not completely dismiss the thousands of students who have suffered at the hands of teachers who simply do not care and attend only for a paycheck.

How do you explain students in the tenth grade who read at a third grade level? You think they don't want to achieve? You think they want to be called stupid?
Not everyone can have two parents who can be at home to help them with their homework and teach them. I mean, if we did, what would be the point of schools?

If a child is not learning at school, then something needs to be done.
In my opinion, we should get rid of tenure. What a ridiculous "program". When you care more about protecting bad teachers than you do students, then you know something is seriously f-ed up.

I had an English teacher who gave us Saduko puzzles everyday for class, but she couldn't be fired because she had tenure. A year of my life wasted, but that's okay, because she got her paycheck. :/

Ah, sorry, bit of a rant. Point is I hate tenure and I hate that it protects bad teachers. Yes, having people support you is important and so is the need to better yourself, but the negative effects and set back bad teachers have on students should not be overlooked simply because a select few got "out". Everyone deserves a fair chance to succeed.

I'm just sayin'.

Only zombies star in zombie movies. Everyone else is fodder.

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[–] SelmerVI 12 years ago

"How do you explain students in the tenth grade who read at a third grade level? You think they don't want to achieve?"

A lot of inner city schools have developed a culture of resistance against the education process. Kids are discouraged by their peers from doing the work, or even showing up to class. Yes, that is really happening.

"Not everyone can have two parents who can be at home to help them with their homework and teach them. I mean, if we did, what would be the point of schools?"

It is not the parent's job to teach - merely to make sure the kid is putting the effort in at home. No one expects them to explain algebra, just make sure the kid is sitting with the book cracked open, pencil and paper in hand. All too often, teachers circulate stories about contacting the parent to inform them of their children's failing efforts, only to be told "That's not my problem - you deal with it, you're the teacher."

"I had an English teacher who gave us Saduko puzzles everyday for class, but she couldn't be fired because she had tenure."

She wasn't fired because no one really tried. Every district has the means to remove incompetent teachers, very few districts actually use them. Administrators don't want to put in the time and effort required, and they also don't want to go through the hiring process any more than they have to. Tenure has become a very convenient excuse for people other than teachers to not do the hard jobs.

"Point is I hate tenure and I hate that it protects bad teachers."

One has to wonder why someone allowed the bad teachers to stick around long enough to be tenured. Tenure is not iron-clad protection - it is simply a requirement that teachers be given due process before being terminated. With tenure it has to be established that there is issues with their effectiveness - formal evaluations, documentation, and the chance to improve.

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[–] CrimsonQ 12 years ago

A lot of inner city schools have developed a culture of resistance against the education process. Kids are discouraged by their peers from doing the work, or even showing up to class. Yes, that is really happening.

I believe you, trust me.

"All too often, teachers circulate stories about contacting the parent to inform them of their children's failing efforts, only to be told 'That's not my problem - you deal with it, you're the teacher.'"

The situation can easily be switched. There definitely needs to be a more equal support system. Teachers need to care about their students and parents need to care about their children.

The schools need to be more responsible and the government needs to stop punishing inner city schools. A school does bad so you take away their funding? That's idiotic.

Only zombies star in zombie movies. Everyone else is fodder.

Tenure -

My old English teacher was fired about two years after I graduated. It took them about 4 years, if I remember correctly, to gather evidence before they could bring any action against her. That's about four years of over 100 students a year who had to withstand that teacher. The idea of tenure was good, but has become flawed over the years. If the people who controlled the tenure contracts- some teachers' union- were willing to negotiate and update the rules of tenure, it could go back to being something that rewards everyone.

You can't be tenured if you're a bad teacher, but that doesn't mean you can't become one after the tenure is received. The English teacher had been teaching for about 26 years. I understand being tired of your job, but that's no reason to make others suffer simply because you don't want to be there.

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[–] SelmerVI 12 years ago

"The situation can easily be switched."

Well, yeah - the war on drugs can be easily won if everyone just agreed not to use them. The part that would make it easy entails the parents turning around and investing in their own kid's education.

"My old English teacher was fired about two years after I graduated. It took them about 4 years, if I remember correctly, to gather evidence before they could bring any action against her."

Four years before they could, or four years before they would? Districts fear lawsuits more than they fear unions. Consider that they rarely fire principals, who do not enjoy any kind of tenure or union protection whatsoever. Also consider that administrators hate putting time into hiring new people.

"You can't be tenured if you're a bad teacher, but that doesn't mean you can't become one after the tenure is received."

Actually, you can be tenured if you are a bad teacher... all it takes is an admin who doesn't do their job when it comes to sifting through the new staff.

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[–] soetius 11 years ago

Movie is about people who had to sacrifice months (potentially years) of their lives, gather hundreds of signatures, jump through hoops upon hoops and move heaven and earth to get rid of just ONE bad teacher.
It's a docudrama that could have been placed in Anywhere, USA.

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[–] siu18 10 years ago

There are schools like this movie portrays. Have you ever heard of the Detroit Achievement Academy? Its a similar school.

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[–] BulmaPunkRocker 10 years ago

According to the ending credits, it was NOT based on true events.
It stated that "the characters ans situationa are ficticious and any resamble is coincidence..." you know that sentence.

Please excuse my terrible redaction, english is not my native language.

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