Maintaining Our Competitive Edge
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"Hi!"
"Hello," I responded, pleasantly surprised that a stranger in
Washington, DC would take the time for the cordial greeting.
"How are you?" the man returned enthusiastically as we strolled towards
our common destination. A few steps ahead was the air-conditioned House
office building I was returning to after evening votes on the House
floor.
"I'm fine. Hot evening, isn't it?" I replied, thinking again how rare it
was to meet someone who would extend an unsolicited pleasantry in a city
well-known for its personal preoccupations and pretensions.
But my musing was abruptly interrupted by the man's sudden change in
tone: "Hold on a minute," he said with frustration, "Some man is trying
to talk to me."
I was confused for only a split-second before the man turned, revealing
the shiny silver oval device clipped to his ear. "What??" he
exasperatedly hissed my way.
"Oh. Excuse me. Nevermind," I said as I pulled open the door to the
building, ushering him into the cool relief from the Washington humidity
and back to his bluetooth cell phone conversation.
As I made my way back to my office that evening, I chuckled at what had
just transpired and thought about how quickly technology can change
America. We live in a world connected by music-playing, sushi-finding,
picture-taking, internet-shopping iPhones and hands-free,
life-organizing, productivity-generating, can’t-live-without
Blackberries. And as rapidly as these technologies change and adapt, our
methods of communication change and adapt in America’s march to feed its
insatiable appetite for technology innovation.
As the world’s dependency on technology increases, our technological
innovation as a nation becomes more valued, and it provides us an
important competitive edge. The industries of business, economics,
military, science, engineering, and government have all been able to use
forms of our innovative technology to create some of the best business,
communications, defense, and training systems in the world.
However, the excitement over our present technology often overshadows
the serious risk we face of losing our technological and competitive
edge in the future. There has been an alarming decline in the number of
students going into the areas of science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics in the United States. Currently, the overall number of math
and science degrees awarded to graduates in the United States makes up
only about 17% of all postsecondary degrees awarded. Comparatively,
other nations, like China, are seeing rapid growth in math and science
degrees. Between 1980 and 2000, China doubled the degrees it has awarded
in higher education, many of which were in math and science fields. In
2004, the country of India graduated 350,000 engineering students
compared with only 70,000 in the U.S. Without the proper amount of
students going into math and science related educational programs, we
will not be able to sustain our technology-drive society, let alone
maintain our global competitiveness.
 But,
if technology is such a fast-growing industry in our country and is one
that is seeing marvelous advances, why are we seeing such a rapid
decline in the number of American students interested in math and
science fields? The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
produced a study showing that the achievement of U.S. students in math
and science programs, when compared to other nations, is inconsistent
with our role as a leader in scientific innovation. The study believes
that one contributing factor to the decline in math and science interest
is an insufficient number of math and science teachers that actually
have a math or science degree. Studies show that teachers teaching
within their degree have more success with their students, so a lack of
trained science and math educators would mean that our students aren’t
becoming the best prepared for scientific-related fields.
In a global economy driven by technology, we can’t afford to fall
behind. We need to place a renewed emphasis on math and science
education for our students, so they can maintain our competitive edge as
they enter the workforce and eventually become the driving strength
behind our economy. This year I supported the 10,000 Teachers, 10
Million Minds Science and Math Scholarship Act. This bill focuses on
improving K-12 mathematics and science education, including the
establishment of a scholarship program designed to recruit and educate
10,000 mathematics and science teachers annually for our nation’s
schools. The goal is to recruit teachers who have exemplary subject
knowledge and instructive skills in math and science fields. To recruit
these teachers, 10,000 Teachers, 10 Million Minds would increase the
amount of scholarships provided to students seeking degrees in math and
science education to $10,000 per student. Scholarship recipients would
be required to teach math and science up to six years in our nation’s
schools.
10,000 Teachers, 10 Million Minds also authorizes special teacher
training activities that would help prepare teachers to teach certain
high level math and science courses, including advanced placement
courses and international baccalaureate courses. In addition, it would
establish a grant program to provide institutes and workshops that
encourage professional development for math and science teachers. The
bill would also require the National Science Foundation and the
Secretary of Education to establish a national panel of experts on math
and science education to identify K-12 teaching materials that have
proven to be effective, so we can expand their use in schools across the
country.
If we continue to push our math and science education aside, it is
certain that we will weaken our competitive edge as a country. We may
not see the effects right away, but our children will. One of the most
important things we can do for students in our nation today is encourage
their interest and knowledge in math and science. Then we will see that
the next generation of minds is even stronger, more capable than the
ones before. |
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