TED TALKS EDUCATION Airs on PBS Tonight

TED, the non-profit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, and WNET, in partnership with PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), will co-produce TED's first-ever original television special this spring, featuring content created and curated exclusively for the show. The TED Talks Education one-hour program will feature a mix of teachers and education advocates delivering short, high-impact talks on the theme of teaching and learning. The special was taped before a live audience on April 4, 2013 in the BAM Harvey Lichtenstein Theater of New York's Brooklyn Academy Of Music, and will air nationally on PBS tonight, May 7, 2013 at 10:00 p.m. EST. TED Talks Education is part of American Graduate: Let's Make It Happen, a nationwide public media initiative Made possible by CPB to help communities identify and implement solutions to the high school dropout crisis.

"Re-imagining education is the key to a more hopeful future," said TED and TED Talks Education curator Chris Anderson. "What better time to gather some of the country's most respected and forward-thinking education advocates, and make this topic the theme of TED's first-ever original television broadcast special."

"America's local public media stations share a deep commitment to educational achievement for all students. We know that completing high school is a significant step with lifelong impact for the student, his family and the community," said Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of CPB."TED TALKS EDUCATION brings together thought leaders who know how we can engage, teach and inspire a generation born digital and identify the paths to their school success."

Musical performer and education advocate John Legend has been tapped to host TED TALKS EDUCATION, as well as deliver a TED Talk as part of the program. Other speakers include:

Pearl Arredondo, Educator and advocate
Geoffrey Canada, Educator, social advocate and CEO of Harlem Children's Zone
Dr. Angela Lee Duckworth, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania.
Bill Gates, Technologist and philanthropist
Malcolm London, Poet, teacher and advocate
Ramsey Musallam, Educator and advocate
Rita F. Pierson, Ed.D, Education and anti-poverty advocate
Sir Ken Robinson, Social activist, educator and most-watched TED Talk speaker on TED.com

The program will be updated with additional speakers before it is taped.

The program will also feature three short films profiling high school students with remarkable stories. The documentaries will be produced by two-time Emmy-winning filmmaker Tony Gerber and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and MacArthur Genius Award-recipient Lynn Nottage.

TED Talks Education is curated by TED's Chris Anderson and is produced by TED's Juliet Blake and WNET's Julie Anderson.

For more information about the special, visit: pbs.org/wnet/ted-talks-education.

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About WNET
In 2013, WNET is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of THIRTEEN, New York's flagship public media provider. As the parent company of THIRTEEN and WLIW21 and the operator of NJTV, WNET brings quality arts, education and public affairs programming to over 5 million viewers each week. WNET produces and presents such acclaimed PBS series as Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, Need to Know, 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, NJ Today and, MetroFocus, themulti-platform news magazine focusing on the New York region.

About TED
TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California almost 30 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The two annual TED Conferences invite the world's leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes on a diverse mix of topics. Many of these talks are then Made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The TED2014 Conference will take place next spring in Vancouver, British Columbia, along with the TEDActive simulcast in neighboring Whistler. The annual TEDGlobal conference is held each summer in Edinburgh, Scotland.

TED's media initiatives include TED.com, where new TED Talks are posted daily; the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as translations from volunteers worldwide; the educational initiative TED-Ed; and TEDBooks, short e-books on powerful ideas. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world get help translating their wishes into action; TEDx, which supports individuals or groups in hosting local, self-organized TED-style events around the world; and the TED Fellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

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 800 partnerships have been formed locally through American Graduate, and CPB is working with Alma and Colin Powell'sAmerica's Promise Alliance and Bill & MeLinda Gates Foundation.