President Expands Education Campaign

President Barack Obama announced on Jan. 6 a second wave of public-private partnerships under the Administration’s Educate to Innovate campaign. The now more than $500 million campaign aims to move American students to the top of the global science and math achievement pack over the next decade (C&EN, Nov. 30, 2009, page 9). To this end, the new partnerships—valued at over $250 million in financial and indirect support—will help attract, develop, reward, and retain top math and science teachers by preparing more than 10,000 new teachers over five years and providing professional support for more than 100,000 current teachers. “The quality of math and science teachers is the most important single factor influencing whether students will succeed or fail in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics,” the President said when announcing the new partnerships.