Contact:
Tania Panczyk-Collins
202 654-4222
tpanczyk@apts.org

Congressmen Yarmuth and LaHood Embrace Public Television’s Educational Leadership by

Introducing the Ready To Compete Act

 

WASHINGTON—September 18, 2008—The Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) applauds Representatives John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) and Representative Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) for introducing H.R. 6856, the Ready To Compete Act. This forward-looking legislation would leverage Public Television’s enormous educational resources to raise student achievement and prepare the 21st Century student to compete in the global economy. Tapping into the potential created by new digital technologies, stations will meet the increasing demands of the 21st century classroom and the changing media consumption habits of today’s students.

America’s competitiveness in the global economy relies heavily on preparing our next generation of leaders to master challenging subject matter, particularly in math, science, engineering and technology. At the same time, literacy skill development remains a bedrock for educational achievement.

Public Television has more than four decades of experience in helping all American children—regardless of socio-economic background—by providing high-quality educational content and services to schools that get results. For example, research has shown that the Public Television math and science series Cyberchase positively influences children’s attitudes about math, their self-confidence in approaching math, and their mathematical problem-solving ability—particularly for girls and Hispanic students. And studies have found that students from low-income families who acquire strong math skills by the eighth grade are ten times more likely to finish college than peers of the same socio-economic background who do not.

From Pre-K to Adult education, the bill presents a comprehensive array of programs dedicated to serving learners of all ages. The bill would reauthorize and expand Public Television’s existing education programs:

· eady To Learn, a program aimed at improving literacy in young children; and

· Ready To Teach, a program that addresses teacher quality through professional development and digital content.

In addition, two new programs would be created to address the growing needs of the American educational system:

· Ready To Achieve, would create a national, on-demand, online digital media service that would allow teachers to access Public Television’s vast archives of high-quality educational content; and

· Ready To Earn, would allow stations to create new resources to address the needs of adult learners in a changing economy.

APTS Acting President and CEO Mark Erstling said: “Since the enactment of the Public Broadcasting Act over 40 years ago, education has been at the core of our mission. Local stations, some of the last locally owned and operated media outlets in the country, now have an opportunity to expand upon that mission. We greatly appreciate the efforts of Congressmen Yarmuth and LaHood, and their recognition of the important role stations play in educating their communities nationwide. We look forward to working with them.”