American Association of Physicists in Medicine
American Association of Physics Teachers
American Chemical Society
American Educational Research Association
American Geological Institute
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
American Institute of Physics
ASME Center for Public Awareness
Association of Science-Technology Centers
Ecological Society of America
Education Development Center, Inc
Engineers Without Borders- USA
Exploratorium
Institute of Food Technologists
Johns Hopkins University
Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS)
Museum of Science, Boston
National Association of Biology Teachers
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
National Education Knowledge Industry Association
National Science Teachers Association
Optical Society of America
Project Lead the Way
Society of Women Engineers
SPIE-The International Society for Optical Engineering
TERC
Triangle Coalition
The Honorable Joshua B.
Bolten
Director, Office of Management and Budget
725 17th Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20503
Dear Mr. Bolten:
We are writing to urge you to provide increased funding for the Math and Science Partnership (MSP) programs at the Department of Education and National Science Foundation in the Administration’s fiscal year 2007 Budget. Specifically, we believe that it is necessary to designate at least $400 million for the Department of Education MSP program and $200 million for the National Science Foundation MSP program in fiscal year 2007 to address the critical challenge our nation is facing in the science and math education fields.
We also urge you to consider the highest possible funding levels for other Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education and education research programs at the National Science Foundation. Our nation’s future economic prosperity will depend in large measure on our ability to better educate our young people in math, science and engineering and to attract more of our best and brightest students into the STEM fields. We believe, however, that funding of NSF STEM education programs should be increased without diminishing essential support for the research directorates.
The Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Coalition is composed of a diverse range of over 40 groups representing all sectors of the technological workforce – from knowledge workers, to educators and education researchers, to scientists, engineers, and technicians. Our coalition has been in existence prior to the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and has continually supported STEM related programs for teachers and students.
While we recognize that these are tight budgetary times, a strong consensus is emerging in the business, education, and scientific communities that our nation’s future competitiveness in the global marketplace is directly tied to the ability of our schools to prepare children for the technological economy of the 21st century. Innovative programs like the Math and Science Partnership programs and other STEM education programs at the NSF need to be expanded to meet this growing challenge.
The Department of Education MSP program provides funds to states in order to give state and local education officials the flexibility to direct resources at specific math and science subject areas of concern.
The MSP program at the National Science Foundation supports large-scale, innovative, and collaborative efforts among businesses, universities, and state and local education officials designed to improve our understanding of how students can more effectively learn math and science skills. Grants under this program are directed at larger, programmatic challenges.
The federal investment in STEM education helps to provide teachers with better tools to prepare our students for the careers of the future. We urge you to provide funds for the significant expansion of these innovative programs in the fiscal year 2007 Budget.
Please contact James Brown at 202-872-6229 if we can provide you with any additional information or assistance.