Why Public Media?

Public Media and the Dropout Epidemic

Public media has long been a source of education, providing students of all ages with programming and teachers with tools to help them better educate America’s youth. Through a network of locally owned and operated radio and television stations, along with national and local digital and online tools,  public media is uniquely equipped to coalesce community partners, educators  and youth to combat the dropout epidemic.

• For more than four decades, public media has been committed to improving educational outcomes for our nation’s most disadvantaged children.
• Public media has the capacity to convene key stakeholders, nonprofit organizations and advocates to identify and bring awareness to important community issues, such as the dropout crisis.
• Public media is giving a voice to those who are committed to finding solutions to the dropout crisis.
• Public media is partnering with universities, businesses, and other nonprofit organizations to create other skill-building opportunities for youth that help keep students interested in staying in school and graduating.
• More than 175 public media stations are already involved in youth engagement initiatives or are providing coverage of the dropout crisis.

American Graduate:  Let’s Make It Happen is an investment in public media stations that are working in their communities to address the dropout crisis.  The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) launched the initiative in May 2011 with local activation and national coverage beginning in the fall of 2011.  “As a nation, we have an obligation to educate our kids,” says Patricia Harrison, CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. “Public Media has the content, tools and relationships to help create a national conversation about the dropout epidemic in our country. The American Graduate initiative will utilize all public media platforms to address this problem.”

In partnership with America’s Promise Alliance and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, CPB identified 20 impacted markets where the dropout crisis is most acute.  Stations in these “Hub Markets” are providing their resources and services to raise awareness, coordinate action with community partners and work directly with students, parents, teachers, mentors, volunteers and leaders to lower the dropout rate in their respective communities.  Stations are creating content that addresses the issue as well as tools to engage students and teachers, including intervention and mentoring programs and professional workshops. On the digital side, stations are generating youth blogs and digital storytelling platforms for students to interact with one another and with their teachers, parents and other involved adults.

In many markets, public media is working with local partners to create real solutions that the community can deliver to keep our kids in school. Learn more.