Pat Mitchell: PBS helps educate America

[struggle4progress]

<snip> PBS and our stations are the single largest educational institution in America. As a result of 35 years of putting children and education first, PBS is now the top choice of American teachers for video in the classroom. We're a leading source of online lesson plans for schools and for parents home-schooling their children. We're top providers of distance learning offered by colleges and a critical resource for adults to learn to read, pass the GED, learn English and develop new skills.

Thanks to our economy of scale and local infrastructure, we are one of the most efficient ways Congress can invest in education. Every dollar spent on a PBS children's television show affects tens of millions of children who will learn literacy skills and educational concepts by watching "Sesame Street,"Arthur" and our 25 other non-violent, educational programs.

Studies of the PBS show "Between the Lions" found that kindergarten children who watched the program outperformed those who did not by nearly 4-1 on a variety of measurements. It is penny-wise and pound-foolish for Congress to underuse the massive power of media to educate people. <snip>

Pat Mitchell has served as the president and chief executive officer of PBS since 2000.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/5471211.html

[no_hypocrisy]

1. That's the point. It encourages critical thinking. It takes viewers away

from corporate television stations and cable. It makes people read books and go to the ballet and stuff.

That's why public broadcasting is in the crosshairs of a Congress with a majority of rightwingers and their enablers.