Chicago Teachers' Strike Free Publicity for 'Won't Back Down'

The nation’s third largest school system went on strike today, terrible news for Chicago students who simply want to learn.

The scholastic crisis will certainly bring more attention to “Won’t Back Down,” the upcoming school choice drama which takes a critical look at the role teachers’ unions play in public schooling.

The film, out Sept. 28, follows a single mom (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and a teacher (Viola Davis) who refuse to let the status quo hurt their children’s chance at a solid education. The pair run into a brick wall made of bureaucratic red tape and an entrenched teachers’ union unwilling to let them work outside the system.

“Won’t Back Down” is already causing a stir within Democratic circles, and the Chicago strike only underlines the need for constructive dialogue over the role unions play in schools across the country.