GreatSchools Launches an Influential Push to Put Education
on the 2008 Election Agenda
The San Francisco-based nonprofit creates a national presence
in the YouTube/CNN presidential debates
San Francisco, CA (July 19, 2007) - GreatSchools announced today that it is
joining digital video innovator YouTube to make history in this fall's
presidential debates and put education at the center of the 2008 campaign agenda.
The award-winning parenting and education Web site has launched an initiative to
empower its more than 44 million annual site visitors to participate in the
YouTube/CNN-hosted Democratic and Republican debates.
Using the YouTube platform, parents can create and upload video
questions and enter them into a pool that will be considered for the
upcoming presidential debates. YouTube and CNN will broadcast select
questions during the debates, held on July 23rd for the Democratic
candidates and September 17th for the Republicans. For the first time
in history, the presidential debates will be powered entirely
by user-generated digital content.
"During the first four Democratic and Republican debates, only one out of
440 questions touched on education," said Bill Jackson, President and CEO of
GreatSchools. "The YouTube/CNN-hosted debates this fall give us and our
audience-parents passionate about K-12 education-a chance to change that.
By combining the voice of parents with the power of digital media, we can
make education a priority for our nation's leaders."
GreatSchools.net was recently voted the Best Family & Parenting Web
Site in the 2007 People's Voice Webby Awards. Building on its success as
an industry leader and innovator, the nonprofit organization is promoting
participation in the debates by featuring questions on its own branded
YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/greatschools).
About GreatSchools (http://www.greatschools.net)
GreatSchools Inc. is an independent, nonprofit organization working to
improve K-12 education by inspiring parents to get involved. Its online media
property, GreatSchools.net, is the nation's premier provider of K-12 school
information, reaching 33 million users last year, an estimated reach into 33% of
the nation's K-12 households. GreatSchools provides school information on its
free Web site, GreatSchools.net, and through its free email newsletters thanks
to the support of foundations and corporations that understand the importance of
parent involvement in a child's education.
Contact:
Alison Lingane
GreatSchools
(415) 977-0700, ext. 125
pr@greatschools.net
