NBC News, Citi and NewSchools Venture Fund are launching the second Citi Innovation Challenge to shine a spotlight on the role that education innovation can play in creating solutions and improving education for students across the country. Three teams of early-stage entrepreneurs are competing over the course of several days in New York city and during the 2012 NBC News Education Nation Summit. The teams will undergo a series of challenges aimed at both improving and testing the strength of their ventures- with NBC News cameras following every step of the way. At the end of the Innovation Challenge, the top team will take home the City Innovation in Education Prize of 100,000 dollars and have the opportunity to become part of the NewSchool Venture Fund portfolio.

We chatted with the three teams to hear more about their ventures and what they see as the most pressing issues in education today:

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