QUICK TAKES - Aug. 19, 2009

President Obama will appear in a back-to-school television special with singer Kelly Clarkson and basketball star LeBron James next month.

Obama is appearing in a 30-minute documentary that will air at 8 p.m. Sept. 8 on BET, MTV, VH1, CMT, Comedy Central, Spike TV and Nickelodeon, all of them Viacom networks. In the program, the president says education is the key to people living out their dreams.

The program marks the kickoff of an education initiative by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Viacom Inc. The five-year campaign, “Get Schooled,” is aimed at improving this country’s high school and college completion rates.