Congress Tackles Education Issues

"To keep America competitive, one commitment is necessary above all: We must continue to lead the world in human talent and creativity," President George W. Bush stated in his January State of the Union address. But unless this talent and creativity is reinforced by a solid math and science education, he added, the U.S.'s competitive edge will be lost. With that, he introduced the American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI) to increase support for basic research and education in physical science.

Fueled by ACI and a report released last fall by the National Academies on U.S. competitiveness, how to strengthen U.S. science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education has become the focus of numerous congressional hearings and legislation. Most recently, a trio of bills has been introduced in the House to encourage innovative research and to strengthen and expand the K-12 and undergraduate education programs at the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy.

"As a nation, we must do everything possible to remain competitive, and that starts with ensuring that we have the best scientists and engineers in the world," said House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood L. Boehlert (R-N.Y.), who cosponsored all three bills. "That won't be the case if we don't invest more, and more wisely, in attracting the best teachers, in teacher training, in improving undergraduate education, and in funding bright, young researchers with the most creative ideas," he said.

Focusing on teacher preparation and training, as well as increasing the number of STEM majors, the Science & Mathematics Education for Competitiveness Act (H.R. 5358) has received wide support from business, education, and scientific organizations, including the American Chemical Society. As introduced, this bill expands a number of NSF programs such as the Robert Noyce Scholarship program and the Math & Science Partnership program to strengthen support for teacher training. The bill also establishes Centers for Undergraduate Education in Science, Mathematics & Engineering, a grant program to improve STEM undergraduate instruction. With respect to DOE, the bill includes a provision to set up education programs at the agency that are in line with its mission.

"We need highly qualified individuals teaching our students at all levels, especially in the fields of math, science, and engineering," said bill sponsor Rep. John H. (Joe) Schwarz (R-Mich.). "This legislation will provide the financial incentives to create this necessary teacher workforce and get our nation back on track to being the technological leader in the global economy."

"We think this legislation is a very good first step," says Jodi Peterson, director of legislative affairs at the National Science Teachers Association, which supports H.R. 5358 because it provides more professional development for active classroom teachers. She cautions that more federal funding is still needed, but, she says, the fact that STEM education is getting so much congressional attention is helpful, adding that this interest is likely to spark increased interest at the state and local levels where the changes are going to be made.

"It is very gratifying to see that NSF is the major focus of this legislation," says Joseph Heppert, professor and chair of chemistry at the University of Kansas and a supporter of this bill. Heppert, who chairs the ACS Committee on Education, tells C&EN that he was also pleased with the balance of STEM education programs in the bill for the K-12 and undergraduate levels.

"The part of this legislation that really jumps out at me is that Congress now recognizes the idea that we need focused efforts on improving and enhancing what's happening in our undergraduate education in addition to K-12 education," Heppert says. "They are recognizing that undergraduate education is a critical part of the pipeline in convincing the best students to pursue science careers."

The other two bills of the House package focus on helping early-career researchers. The Early Career Research Act (H.R. 5356) authorizes NSF and DOE to provide merit-reviewed grants to early-career tenure-track researchers. To accomplish this, NSF is instructed to use its Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program, and DOE would set up a new program. The National Institute of Standards & Technology is also tasked by this bill to report on its efforts to recruit and retain young researchers.

The second of these early-career-focused bills, the Research for Competitiveness Act (H.R. 5357), provides funds for NSF and DOE awards that will allow young tenure-track researchers to pursue high-risk, high-reward projects in areas related to industry. This program includes a base grant amount plus funds that are awarded as a one-to-one match to industry funds.

These two bills "build upon the President's initiative and focus on fostering innovation by providing grants to promising young researchers to pursue research that could lead to the technology breakthroughs of tomorrow," explained Rep. Michael T. McCaul (R-Texas), who introduced both bills. As with H.R. 5358, these two bills have broad support, including that of ACS.

The three bills join a number of related bills under consideration in the House and Senate. Another trio of House bills introduced last December by Science Committee ranking member Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) also targets STEM education improvements, but the Republican set of bills will be the primary vehicle for such legislation. Differences in the two legislative packages are being ironed out by the committee to yield bipartisan legislation, committee staffers tell C&EN. A full committee markup of H.R. 5356, 5357, and 5358 was being held as C&EN went to press.

On the Senate side, several bills also have been introduced; the most recent came out of the Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation in May. This legislation also aims to improve U.S. competitiveness by bolstering education and technology programs primarily at NSF but also at NIST and the National Aeronautics & Space Administration.

"Taken together, the innovation bills in the House and Senate lay out the beginnings of a national strategy for dealing with the competitiveness challenge," ACS President E. Ann Nalley tells C&EN. "We are really just at the beginning of what is hopefully a renewed national focus on science and technology and the role they play in advancing American prosperity and strength," she notes.