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A drama with a controversial political message is debuting nationwide today. Won’t Back Down tells the story of a mother who fights to improve her daughter’s failing school, but as Whitney Ray tells us, that same story was told to state lawmakers earlier this year in a failed attempt to bring more charter schools to Florida.

Maggie Gyllenhaal plays a single mother, whose dyslexic daughter is being neglected at an inner city school. Won’t Back Down tells the story of how she and another parent tuned things around.

The movie is loosely based on a true story about parents in California who petitioned to turn a failing school into a charter school.

The real story inspired a bill in Florida call the Parent Empowerment Act. It would have allowed parents to petition the state to have their child’s failing school taken over by a charter school company.

But before all the silver screen drama, the story behind Won’t Back Down, brought political drama to here to the state capitol, during the final hours of the 2012 legislative session.

The Parent Empowerment Act was all but a sure thing, until questions arose over who would own the schools tax dollars built if a charter school company took over.

Teachers unions expect the bill to be back next year and say the movie proves a massive money campaign will accompany the legislation.

“Just imagine how much money the people that are backing this had to put up in order to get a major Hollywood production,” said Mark Pudlow with the Florida Education Association.

Won’t Back Down has a 35 percent rating by critics on Rotten Tomatoes, but 60 percent of people who watched the movie liked it.

California is the only state that’s passed the legislation, but the Parent Trigger bill is getting support from the American Legislative Exchange Council, which means lawmakers throughout the country will be asked to sponsor it in their state.