A new documentary called “Two Million Minutes” is helping raise awareness of the science and math challenge facing the United States. The title comes from the fact that as soon as a student completes the 8th grade, the clock starts ticking. From that moment, the child has approximately two million minutes until high school graduation, which means two million minutes to build their intellectual foundation, to prepare for college and ultimately career, to go from a teenager to an adult.

The film’s premise is that how a student spends their two million minutes - in class, at home studying, playing sports, working, sleeping, socializing or just goofing off - will affect their economic prospects for the rest of their lives. The documentary asks, how do most American high school students spend this time? What about students in the rest of the world? How do family, friends and society influence a student's choices for time allocation? What implications do their choices have on their future and on a country's economic future?

The film compares educational standards in the United States with those in India and China by following two students from each of these countries and interviewing them, as well as members of their families, about the priorities in their lives during their senior year in high school. The film is intended to spark discussions and dialogue about American education. How do Americans compare on a global scale? Twenty months in the making, "Two Million Minutes" highlights the various pressures and priorities of these students and their families, providing insight into the changing nature of competition in the knowledge economy.

To put the student stories in context, the documentary includes interviews with specialists like former U.S. Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich, Congressman Bart Gordon, chair of the House Committee on Science, Harvard economist Richard Freeman as well as top Indian CEOs, and leading scientists in America. The experts who elaborate on the differences in education among the countries and discuss implications for America also include Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Vivek Paul, former CEO of WiPro technologies of India; Tim Draper, Managing Director of Silicon Valley venture firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson; Vivien Stewart, Chinese Education Specialist at the Asia Society; and Vivek Wadhwa, Executive-in-Residence at Duke University and Wertheim Fellow, Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School.

Statistics in the film regarding American high school students should give rise to concern for our student's education in math and science. Less than 40 percent of U.S. students take a science course more rigorous than general biology, and a mere 18 percent take advanced classes in physics, chemistry or biology. Only 45 percent of U.S. students take math coursework beyond two years of algebra and one year of geometry. And 50 percent of all college freshmen require remedial coursework.

Meanwhile, both India and China have made dramatic leaps in educating their middle classes - each comparable in size to the entire U.S. population. Compared to the U.S., China now produces eight times more scientists and engineers, while India puts out up to three times as many as the U.S. Additionally, given the affordability of their wages, China and India are now preferred destinations for increasing numbers of multinational high-tech corporations.

Just as the Soviets' launch of a tiny satellite ignited a space race and impelled America to improve its science education, many experts feel the United States has reached its next "Sputnik moment." The goal of “Two Million Minutes” is to help answer the question: Are we doing enough with the time we have to ensure the best future for all?

The Two Million Minutes storyline was conceived by Robert A. Compton and he also has served as Executive Producer of the documentary. Compton has had a business career as a venture capitalist, president of a NYSE company, and founder of four companies. Compton teamed up with two former teachers-turned-filmmakers to produce the documentary. Chad Heeter and Adam Raney – both graduates of UC Berkeley’s journalism school with expertise in foreign reporting – traveled to Shanghai, Bangalore and across the U.S.,

Two Million Minutes has recently partnered with Strong American Schools’ ED in ’08, a national, nonpartisan campaign supported by The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation promoting sound education policies for all Americans.

For more information or to view a trailer of the film, please visit www.2mminutes.com/index.html.