-
About Rick Santorum
-
About Pennsylvania
-
Constituent Services
-
Issues & Legislation
-
Press Office
-
Upcoming Events
-
Youth & Student Corner
-
Contact Information
-
Keystone Connection
-
Employment Opportunities
|
Online Newsletter
Signup for our Email Newsletter!
|
|
Maintaining our Competitive Edge
By Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA)
March 29, 2006
For generations now, America has been the political and economic leader of the free world. Many factors have contributed to this rise, and to the benefits that so many Americans have derived from it. But at the very center of America's rise to economic prosperity has been our propensity towards innovation. From Pennsylvania's own Benjamin Franklin to the Wright Brothers, from Henry Ford to Bill Gates, our nation has a long history of changing the world--and improving people's lives--through invention.
If you look at the names mentioned above, searching for a common thread, one thing stands out--each had a love for, and knowledge of, math and science. Orville and Wilbur Wright would not have flown if they lacked an understanding of the physics that make flying possible. Similarly, Bill Gates would not have built Microsoft into a multi-billion dollar corporation, revolutionizing the world in the process, without his immense math and science skills. As we move further into the 21st century, and technology becomes more and more important, America will need minds like the Wright Brothers and Bill Gates. And so we must make sure that we are able to develop American minds that are both passionate about and proficient in math and science.
The unfortunate truth is that right now, we just aren't. American students are losing their interest and ability to compete with their international peers, primarily from India and China, in these critical disciplines. The statistics are pretty troubling--for every chemist or engineer in the United States, there are five chemists in China or eleven engineers in India. In 2004, we graduated 70,000 engineers, while India graduated 350,000 and China 600,000. And America is now a net importer of high-tech products.
So how do we combat this trend? How do we make sure that America does not lose the competitive edge that has been so instrumental in our rise to economic power and in preserving our quality of life? I believe it starts at the very beginning, teaching our children from a young age to love math and science. Which is why earlier this month, I introduced the Securing Excellence in Education for Our Kids in Math and Science Act, or SEEK Math and Science Act. This bill will take important new steps to ensure that our students are receiving a quality education in math and science--the quality education that we expect as parents and demand as a nation seeking to sustain our competitive edge.
First, the bill focuses on recruiting individuals with a strong background in math and science to join our next generation of educators. It will provide scholarships to motivate students to obtain undergraduate degrees in math, science, technology or engineering with concurrent certification to teach math and science. Those who love math and science themselves surely have an easier time imparting that love to their students, and my bill will help encourage more math and science students to choose to pass on their knowledge to elementary and secondary students.
In our efforts to prepare tomorrow’s teachers, we cannot forget the responsibility entrusted to current teachers to prepare America’s students today. My legislation would provide grants to establish two-year, part time master's degree programs for current middle and secondary math and science teachers to strengthen their own content knowledge and enhance their ability to educate America’s students.
My bill has a number of other provisions intended to make a career teaching math and science an option that more people with those backgrounds choose to enter into. It would award bonuses for a five-year teaching commitment in schools with the greatest need to teachers with a degree in math or science. It would provide grants to state and local educational agencies to offer performance incentive compensation systems to reward math and science teachers who improve student achievement. And it would provide tax incentives for companies within the science, math, and engineering sectors to allow employees to pursue post-secondary education or training and to partner with schools to teach math and science.
Today's students will be responsible for America's future, and it is our responsibility, right now, to give them the tools they need to succeed. That is why, in addition to incentives for those to teach, my bill will expand access to Advanced Placement courses and implement a public relations campaign, directed at our students, designed to make them aware of the wide range of exciting and rewarding opportunities available in these fields.
Math and science education, and the technological aptitude that follows, is an area in which if we fall behind now we may never catch up. It is time that the education of our children in these essential disciplines becomes a priority for all Americans. The Schools SEEK Math and Science Act is an announcement that it is now a priority in the United States Senate, and it is my hope that my colleagues will recognize the critical nature of this bill and join me in passing it this Congress.
##
|
|
