U.S. Senators Pushing Science, Math Education

By Andy Lenderman, The Santa Fe New Mexican

Jan. 21–Experts have warned that the United States is losing its leadership in science and technology, and now, U.S. Sens. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Pete Domenici, R-N.M ., will try to do something about it.

Bingaman and Domenici will introduce three bills in Congress next week that aim to revitalize science education, teacher training and funding for basic science research, among other ideas.

It’s a major effort, with a price tag of $9 billion a year. New Mexico’s senators, and U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., have encouraged President Bush to include the effort in his upcoming State of the Union address.

“It’s clear that the president and his advisers share our concern about the prospects of losing our competitive edge in the global economy,” Bingaman said in a news release. “It’s my hope that the administration’s budget reflects this concern by making a significant increase in our nation’s investment in science and technology.”

Bingaman and Alexander asked last May for a panel of experts at the National Academy of Science to investigate the matter. In their report, called “Rising Above the Gathering Storm” and presented to Congress in October, the experts said they are “deeply concerned that the scientific and technical building blocks of our economic leadership are eroding at a time when many other nations are gathering strength.”

A global strengthening of science and technology would benefit the world’s economy, especially the economies of poor countries, the report said. “But we are worried about the future prosperity of the United States,” the authors wrote.

They made 20 recommendations to fix the problem, and all are contained in the legislation proposed by Domenici and Bingaman, titled “Protecting America’s Competitive Edge.”

The recommendations break down into four areas:

Recruiting 10,000 students a year to become science and math teachers in elementary, middle and high schools. Scholarships, and bonuses for working in poor areas would be available.

Doubling the federal money invested in research.

Working to make the country’s colleges the best place in the world to perform research, including an effort to boost the number of science and mathematics graduates.

Improving tax policies, the patent system and broadband Internet access to help American companies be more creative.

But science and math education rank as the top concern, one of the report’s authors, Dr. P. Roy Vagelos, told Congress in October. “The committee believes the education issue is the most critical challenge the United States is facing if our children and grandchildren are to inherit ever-greater opportunities for high-quality, high-paying jobs,” Vagelos said.

More information about the report is available at http://www.nap.edu/ books/0309100399/html.

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