Education is the cornerstone of public media. For decades local public media stations have produced programming to educate the young and old in their communities. Today, in addition to providing educational programming, public media stations are focusing on how they can play a role in lowering the high school dropout rate.
About one out of every five American teens drops out of school each year. That adds up to nearly one million school-aged children not graduating high school with their class every year. In 2011, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) launched the American Graduate: Let's Make It Happen initiative to combat the dropout crisis. That first year, twenty communities with the excessively high dropout rates, were identified and chosen to participate in the initiative. Public media stations in those communities worked with community partners, students, parents, teachers, mentors, volunteers and leaders to tackle the dropout problem.
One of the public media stations chosen to participate was NET, Nebraska's public broadcasting network. From 2010-2011, almost 1,900 Nebraska students dropped out of school. That's an average of over 10 students every school day. In April 2012, with funding from American Graduate, NET brought together coalition of Nebraska educational organizations to produce the television special The State of Education in Nebraska. The community's response to the program was so positive that NET made a two year commitment in partnership with Nebraska Children and Families Foundation to extend it.
“As part of the ongoing dialog among the group of partners pulled together for the initial show, it was evident that there was a strong need to continue raising awareness on the many issues related to improving educational opportunities for all Nebraska youth,” said Gary Targoff, NET's Assistant General Manager of Education. “The consensus among the partners was that NET was the ideal organization to tackle this effort and it fit seamlessly with our strategic goal to ‘be a valued partner in education’.”
The State of Education in Nebraska was expanded to include a series of 24 broadcast specials that focus on the role of school and community partnerships can have on improving student achievement, both in the classroom and through outside learning opportunities and programs. Topics covered on the program include truancy, STEM education, the effects of poverty and how Nebraska schools are providing support to children and their families, and the importance of parent engagement in their child's education.
- The State Of Education In Nebraska: Graduation Rates Show Signs Of Ethnic Disparities, Part 1
In addition, NET expanded The State of Education in Nebraska to include online and community activities to address the dropout crisis as it relates to residents.
The two year commitment made by NET to extend The State of Education in Nebraska and continue its dedication to bringing the community together to end the dropout crisis has not gone unnoticed.
“Response from the education community has been positive and web traffic to The State of Education in Nebraska has been increasing,” said Targoff.
NET, based in Lincoln, is a state network of public broadcasting radio and television stations. Nebraska was one of the first states in the nation to begin the groundwork for educational broadcasting. Today NET — with nine stations statewide —serves all 93 counties with more than 1 million television viewers each week and 110,000 radio listeners. NET Television operates through a partnership between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission (NETC). NET is the producer of Backyard Farmer, the longest-running series on Television at more than 60 consecutive years, and was the co-producer of Reading Rainbow with WNED in Buffalo, N.Y.