Education Department’s Monthly TV Show Opens 2007-08 Season

The U.S. Department of Education’s monthly TV show, “Education News Parents Can Use,” opens its 2007-08 season tonight with a back-to-school special reminding parents and students of their options—including high-performing charter schools, which have expanded rapidly over the last few years—under the landmark No Child Left Behind Act.

The program will be carried from 8 to 9 p.m. EDT tonight on the Dish Network, dozens of PBS stations and numerous cable outlets. Others, including The Learning Channel, will broadcast the show on a tape-delayed basis. A complete listing of viewing options is available at www.ed.gov/edtv. In addition, the program will be webcast live and archived at www.connectlive.com/events/ednews/.

The program will feature:

A conversation with Morgan Brown, assistant deputy secretary in the Education Department’s Office of Innovation and Improvement, about the importance of informing parents and students of their education options under No Child Left Behind and engaging parents in decisions about their children’s education.

A dialogue with award-winning charter school principals Lawrence Hernandez, from Cesar Chavez Academy in Pueblo, Colo., and Jorge Miranda, from MATCH Public Charter High School in Boston, regarding their work in providing parents with high-performing school options and raising student achievement for disadvantaged students in math, reading, science, writing and other core subject areas.

A discussion with Beverly Raimondo, director of the Center for Parent Leadership at the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence in Lexington, Ky.; Jacqueline Garvey, executive director of the Indiana Partnerships Center; and Hedy Lemar-Walls, director of the Office of Family Engagement at the Minneapolis Public Schools about parent training, leadership and engagement at local schools and school districts.

The “Education News Parents Can Use” TV series airs monthly during the school year.