Meeting Notes

April 22, 2002

I wanted to provide an update on the status of the various efforts to increase funding for the Math/Science Partnership Program contained in the "No Child Left Behind" Act.

In case you did not see this article, it appeared in the Friday PM edition of Tech Daily

Education:   A coalition of high-tech companies, associations and business groups has urged House and Senate appropriators to provide $450 million for specific teacher training in math and science. In a letter, the lawmakers requested funding for the Math/Science Partnership program as authorized under the sweeping education bill that became law in January. Congress provided a large increase for teacher training in general in fiscal 2002 but only $12.5 million for teacher training in math and science. "To ensure the goals set by [the education law] in math are met, the Math/Science Partnership must receive adequate funding so it can be a formula-based national program," said Thom Stohler, vice president of the electronics group AeA, which was a co-signer to the April 17 letter. "The business community is concerned that not enough students are graduated with sufficient math and science skills to pursue college degrees in these disciplines or enter the workforce."

Several members of the House and Senate are putting together letters in support of increasing funding for the Math/Science Partnership Program. Here's a summary of the activity:

House

** The Congressional Black Caucus has already sent a letter to the Appropriations Committee, with 24 signatures

** The New Democrats are currently gathering signatures for a letter they are sending to the Appropriations Committee

** The Chairman of the Science Committee (Rep. Boehlert) and the Education and Workforce Committee (Rep. Boehner) are drafting a letter to send to the Appropriations Committee.

Senate

** Sen. Durbin is planning on sending a letter to the Appropriations Committee.

** The Senate Republican High-Tech Task Force is sending a letter, through Sen. Collins office.

Yes, the working group has a website. The website has copies of the House/Senate Appropriations Committee letters, position papers, a sample letter your company can send to Congress, and links to the House/Senate Appropriations Committee. Here is the link -

http://www.aeanet.org/GovernmentAffairs/gaet_MSPmainpage.asp

4. Working Group to testify before the House Appropriations Committee

On May 7, the Working Group will testify before the House Appropriations Committee in support of increasing funding for the Math/Science Partnership Program. Richard Schaar of Texas Instruments will testify on behalf of the Working Group.

The Working Group is attempting to schedule meetings with the remaining members of the House and Senate Labor/HHS Appropriations Committee. As meetings are scheduled, I will email them and post them on the website.

The committee will meet next on May 6, 2002 at AeA.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

For More Information: 
Contact Matthew Page, Director of Procurement Policy and Workforce Issues, 202.682.4439

This page was last updated on 06/23/04.  
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