National Science Teachers Association

Legislative Update, October 6, 2003

A conference committee is now working out the differences between the House- and Senate-approved levels of funding for the FY 2004 Labor, HHS, and Education appropriations bill.

The Math and Science Partnerships program at the U. S. Department of Education is slated to receive $150 million in the House version of H.R. 2660, a $50 million increase in funding from the FY 2003 program. The Senate voted to level-fund the program at slightly more than $100 million.

The House voted to fund the State Grants for Improving Teacher Quality (Title II, Part A, grants) at slightly more than $2.9 billion, while the Senate Appropriations Committee provided $2.85 billion for these grants, the amount requested by President Bush. The program received a little more than $2.9 billion in FY 2003, so FY 2004 appropriations would see a decrease in teacher professional development, recruitment, and retention funds going to districts.

Now is the time to call your Representative(s) and Senator(s). Call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Representative and/or Senator. Ask these legislators to urge the education appropriations leaders—Representatives Regula and Obey in the House and Senators Spector and Harkin—to adopt the House funding level for the Math and Science Partnerships and the Teacher Quality grants in H.R. 2260.

Below is a letter sent by NSTA, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), and the Triangle Coalition for Science and Technology Education to Representative Regula, chair of the House Education Appropriations subcommittee.

                                                            October 1, 2003

The Honorable Ralph Regula
Chairman, Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education                                                                         
2306 Rayburn House Office Building       
Washington, DC 20515      

Dear Chairman Regula:

We write to you today to express our appreciation for your continued support for the Department of Education’s Math and Science Partnership program, and we thank you for the role you played in securing $100 million for the MSPs in H.R. 2660.  As Congress prepares to finalize work on the FY 2004 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill, we urge you to adopt the funding level of $150 million for FY04.

In FY03, the Math and Science Partnerships were funded at $100 million, up from the $12.5 million appropriated in FY02. That significant increase in federal support, which was a direct result of your strong leadership, transformed the program into a competitive, state-based initiative.  The Math and Science Partnerships represent a renewed investment in science and math educators, and have set in motion a process that will lead to high-quality professional development programs in all 50 states, programs targeted to serve those communities that need this help the most.  As teachers of science and math, we know firsthand how urgently this help is needed if school districts are to meet the mandate of No Child Left Behind—having a highly qualified teacher in every classroom.  We now urge you to fund the program at $150 million to build upon the successes that have been achieved since the program’s inception.

The Math and Science Partnerships are designed to bring together institutions of higher education, businesses, and other stakeholders to design the best possible professional development programs for math and science teachers.  The program design is flexible enough to allow partnerships to recruit, train, and mentor new teachers and to develop summer institutes and distance learning programs to provide ongoing professional development opportunities.  It brings experts together to strengthen and redesign curricula, making them more rigorous and better aligned with state standards.  And it will help integrate technology in the classroom and support the design of programs targeted to young women and other underrepresented minorities in the fields of science, math, technology, and engineering.

It is by improving the skills and content knowledge of teachers that student achievement in math and science will similarly improve.  Teachers need and want ongoing education to hone and improve their classroom competence.  All too often, funds for professional development are the first item to be dropped from the budget when a fiscal crisis occurs.  All 50 states are facing hard times financially when it comes to school budgets, so this support could not come at a better time.  Please recognize the importance of the Math and Science Partnerships by appropriating $150 million for the program.  Thank you.

Sincerely,