Triangle Coalition For Science And Technology Education

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (HELP), released a draft bill this week to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), or No Child Left Behind. Throughout this year, both the House and Senate education committees have been holding hearings and requesting comments for changes in efforts towards reauthorizing ESEA, but this is the first sign of a comprehensive bill. Harkin has been negotiating the terms with Ranking Member Sen. Michael Enzi (R-WY) over the last several months and the committee is scheduled to hold a mark-up of the bill next week. View Chairman Harkin’s one-pager on ESEA here.

While the Senate is moving forward with its single bipartisan bill, the House is seeking to reauthorize the legislation through a piecemeal approach; having already introduced several individual bills with the feeling that consensus is easier to obtain on single issues than on the much larger package. Additionally, several GOP members of the Senate also began introducing their own set of individual ESEA bills last month. This will set up a challenging conference committee effort to reconcile the two approaches if something were to pass.

In the HELP Committee’s draft, provision for STEM can be found in the new Title IV-B (page 441), Improving Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) Instruction and Student Achievement. Introduced last week by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) as S. 1675, the Improving STEM Instruction and Student Achievement program would amend the current Title II-B of NCLB, or the Mathematics and Science Partnership Program under the Department of Education, and would aim to:

• Improve student engagement in, and increase student access to, courses in STEM subjects;
• Recruit, train, and support highly-effective teachers in STEM subjects and providing robust tools and supports for students and teachers;
• Close student achievement gaps, and prepare more students to be on track to college and career readiness and success in these subjects.

Title IV-B would award grants to states through competitive grants unless the appropriation exceeds $500 million, in which case funds would be distributed through formula grants. These amendments as proposed in Title IV-B are consistent with the goals of Triangle Coalition for expanding and emphasizing STEM education, though we would favor a continuation of the formula grants to the states, at some level, especially during this time of critical need for professional development programs to support the Common Core Math Standards and Next Generation Science Standards implementation.

Upon the introduction of the legislation (S. 1675), co-sponsor Senator Gillibrand said, “America is home to the world’s strongest economy, the greatest colleges and universities, and the world’s brightest minds. But if we’re going to keep our place atop the global economy, we must prepare our students with the education they need for the jobs of the future. That starts with sparking more interest in math, science and technology, drawing more STEM teachers to educate students in high-need areas, and streamlining proficiency standards that hold us back. We are relying on our children today to be the innovators of tomorrow. It’s our job to make sure they are prepared.”