The Institute for America's Future and the Center for American Progress have created a national Task Force to ensure excellence in public education - co-chaired by Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, Philip Murphy, Senior Director of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, historian and former Washington, D.C. School Board member Roger Wilkins. The Task Force begins with the recognition that the current scope of the universally available public system is too limited for the future. We will call for access for every child to preschool through at least two years of education after high school graduation - a "P-14+" initiative - and we will explore and outline a realistic plan for creating such a system.

The Task Force will engage business, policy and community leaders in a series of major public forums across the country and by publishing op-eds, papers and articles. The project will conclude with a series of concrete recommendations for modernizing and renewing public education in the United States.

At the Task Force launch on April 22nd, two of the Task Force co-chairs outlined the Task Force's plan. Click the links to the right to view video highlights and speaker footage from the launch.

"We are trying to prepare today's students for tomorrow's economy with yesterday's ideas," said Napolitano. "Our school system was designed in the early 20th century and hasn't seen significant changes in more than a generation."

"America's next biggest economic threat looms in our schools. We need to ensure that our children have the skills that they need to fill the jobs of the future," Murphy said. "The Task Force will think outside the box in order to create a new vision for public education in the United States so we can maintain our position as the leading world economy."

Click here to read the Task Force's Charter »