Is 'Bad Education' Based On A True Story? Real Facts About New HBO Movie

On Saturday night, "Bad Education" will premiere on HBO. The comedy-drama, which was written by Mike Makowsky, follows the story of a school superintendent's larceny scam that threatened a school district. Those who tune in to watch the new movie starring Hugh Jackman as Frank Tassone and Allison Janney as Pam Gluckin may wonder if the movie’s plot is based on a true story. What do we know about the backstory of the HBO drama?

According to Vanity Fair, "Bad Education" is, in fact, based on true events. In an interview that Makowsky gave the publication in September 2019, he stated that Tassone had once been a big part of New York’s Roslyn school district. The charismatic leader reportedly made an effort to meet each one of his students and personalize their learning experience, which likely distracted from the fact that he drove a Mercedes and served expensive lunches.

Over the years, Tassone had eventually worked his way up to a "unique place in the Roslyn ecosystem," the screenwriter told the outlet. "He had been in the Roslyn school district for 10 or 12 years—and in that time, he had grown the school district to this point of national prominence...which meant that the town itself was doing well because the regard of a school district is directly tethered to things like property values," he added.

However, the school administrators soon began asking for more money, which taxpayers provided. Eventually, Tassone was arrested in an $11.2M larceny scandal. Gluckin, Roslyn schools’ former business administrator, later admitted to stealing $4.3M. Additionally, the pair also reportedly withdrew more than $1M from ATMs.

After serving roughly three years of his four to 12-year sentence, Tassone was released from prison in 2010.

A trailer for the new HBO movie, which also stars Ray Romano as Bob Spicer, Alex Wolff as Nick Fleischman, and Geraldine Viswanathan as Rachel Bhargava, can be seen below.

Those who tune in to "Bad Education," according to its official synopsis, will get to watch as an "embezzlement scheme surfaces that threatens to destroy all they’ve built" as Frank is "forced to maintain order and secrecy — by whatever means necessary."

"Bad Education" premieres Saturday at 8 p.m. EDT on HBO.