Parents from the Wonderland Avenue Elementary School PTA in Los Angeles enlisted the help of actors Megan Fox, Brian Austin Green and Geoff Stults for a video aimed at blocking the nearly $2.5 billion in proposed education cuts from the California state budget, which is due for a vote at the end of April.
Set in an overcrowded classroom, “Hot For Teachers,” directed by Eric Appel (Crank Yankers, Human Giant), features ninety fifth graders, many of whom lament over the budget cuts and teacher lay-offs to Fox and Green, who star as themselves. Fox and Green confront Geoff Stults (She’s Out of My League, Wedding Crashers) who plays a representative from Governor Schwarzenegger’s office, hilariously tone-deaf to the dire needs of students.
“Megan and I were very proud to be a part of this video,” said Brian Austin Green. “It’s very funny and underscores what’s really at risk if these proposed budget cuts are passed. As a parent with a child in public school, I’ve learned you have to be very vocal about the quality of your kid’s education. And right now, a lot is at stake for California’s schools.”
“Parents at Wonderland share the same frustration as parents across California whose children’s education has been affected by this budget cuts,” said Teri Levy, President of the Wonderland Avenue PTA. “We felt, given our proximity to the entertainment community, we could speak out in a powerful way. We are very grateful to Brian, Megan and Funny or Die for their incredible contributions on behalf of all public school students of California and helping us get the word out in a very big way.”
“$17 billion has already been slashed from education programmes over the past two years” says Fox. “So make your voice heard; call, write and annoy the Governor until he cries for his mommy.”
Funny or Die produced the video with the actors donating their time to this grassroots effort. Stults was particularly moved by the video’s storyline as his mother has been a public school teacher for nearly 37 years. The video was filmed over an entire school day as all three fifth grade classes participated in the special project. Parents and teachers collaborated on all levels of production from writing the script to serving as extras, to craft services, to web design and publicity.
The Wonderland PTA chapter is asking the public to take action and sign a petition at SayNoToCuts.com requesting Governor Schwarzenegger, the California State Assembly, and the California State Senate to immediately rescind the proposed education cuts. These new cuts come on top of more than $17 billion already slashed from education and social service programs over the past two years, which results in increased class size, fewer janitorial and health services, and reduction in teacher workforce.
For more information, click here. To watch the video, visit FunnyOrDie.com.
