Game Changers: An American Graduate Community Town Hall Special to Discuss Solutions to the Low High School Graduation Rates in New York City

NEW YORK, April 9, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In his State of the City Address in February 2014, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed to provide universal all day pre-kindergarten, and universal after-school programs for middle school students in every borough of the city. The Mayor has made education initiatives a priority in an effort to provide equal opportunities for all children in New York City. Game Changers: An American Graduate Community Town Hall aims to address how these programs will affect the long term graduation rate for New York City High Schools.

As part of the on-going American Graduate Community Town Halls initiative, Game Changers: An American Graduate Community Town Hall will premiere on Wednesday, April 16, 2014 at 8:30 p.m. on NJTV, Thursday, April 17, 2014 at 10:30 p.m. on THIRTEEN and Thursday, April 24, 2014 at 7:30 p.m. on WLIW21.

Hosted by Brian Lehrer of WNYC's The Brian Lehrer Show,Game Changers: An American Graduate Community Town Hall brings together educators, parents, students and community stakeholders for a town hall meeting before an audience at Montclair State University to generate solutions to the problem of low high school graduation rates in New York City.

Game Changers: An American Graduate Community Town Hall guest panelists will include Merryl Tisch, chancellor of the NY State Board of Regents, Hirokazu Yoskihawa, professor at NYU's Steinhardt School, Chris Whipple, vice president of programs at ExpandEDSchools and Sherry Cleary, executive director of the New York City Early Childhood Professional Development Institute, among many others.

American Graduate, supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, is a long term public media commitment to help communities implement solutions to the high school dropout crisis. Public media plays a significant role building individual activity, community capacity and national awareness. Working with Alma and Colin Powell's America's Promise Alliance, Civic Enterprises, Johns Hopkins Everyone Graduates Center, and The Alliance for Excellent Education, and over 1,000 local partners, the initiative puts faces on the numbers and increases understanding of the risks and solutions through national and local content, covering all facets of the issue for broadcast, web and mobile platforms. In addition, American Graduate is engaging and empowering teachers, parents and students to help those most at risk of dropping out through community collaborations and classroom resources.

Game Changers: An American Graduate Community Town Hall is a production of Public Media NJ, Inc. for WNET.  WNET is the parent company of THIRTEEN and WLIW21, New York's public television stations and operator of NJTV.

The broadcast's Executive Producer is Bob Males. Executive in Charge of Production is John Servidio, General Manager of NJTV.

Game Changers: An American Graduate Community Town Hall is made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

About WNET
As New York's flagship public media provider and the parent company of THIRTEEN and WLIW21 and operator of NJTV, WNET brings quality arts, education and public affairs programming to more than 5 million viewers each week. WNET produces and presents such acclaimed PBS series as Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, PBS NewsHour Weekend, Charlie Rose and a range of documentaries, children's programs, and local news and cultural offerings available on air and online. Pioneers in educational programming, WNET has created such groundbreaking series as Get the Math, Oh Noah! and Cyberchase and provides tools for educators that bring compelling content to life in the classroom and at home. WNET highlights the tri-state's unique culture and diverse communities through NYC-ARTS, Reel 13, NJTV News with Mike Schneider and MetroFocus, the multi-platform news magazine focusing on the New York region. WNET is also a leader in connecting with viewers on emerging platforms, including the THIRTEEN Explore iPad App where users can stream PBS content for free.

About AMERICAN GRADUATE
American Graduate: Let's Make it Happen is helping local communities identify and implement solutions to the high school dropout crisis. American Graduate demonstrates public media's commitment to education and its deep roots in every community it serves. Beyond providing programming that educates, informs and inspires, public radio and television stations — locally owned and operated — are an important resource in helping to address critical issues, such as the dropout rate. In addition to national programming, more than 75 public radio and television stations in 33 states have launched on-the-ground efforts working with community and at risk youth to keep students on-track to high school graduation. More than 1000 partnerships have been formed locally through American Graduate, and CPB is working with Alma and Colin Powell's America's Promise Alliance and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

About CPB 
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government's investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,400 locally-owned and -operated public television and radio stations nationwide, and is the largest single source of funding for research, technology, and program development for public radio, television and related online services.

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SOURCE WNET