Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis to Star in Education Drama STILL I RISE

Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis will star in the topical drama Still I Rise.  Directed by Daniel Barnz (Beastly), the actresses will play a pair of mothers who join forces to reform an inner-city public school.  According to Deadline, “the film takes aim at the crisis of public education in America.”  So is it going to attack the evils of standardized testing?  That there aren’t enough teachers and class sizes are swelling to where no student can get the attention they deserve?  Or will it be an attack on the abysmal pay for teachers?  I’m guessing “None of the Above”.  I’m betting that it will be an attempt to root out the “bad” teachers and a nice update to the school’s facilities.

Gyllenhaal and Davis are both great actresses and I hope they’ve signed onto a project that examines the complexity of our education problem rather than trying to uphold some quick, ineffective fixes.  And if not, perhaps they can do a film where the military’s budget accidentally goes to education.