House and Senate Committees Appropriate Large Increases for NSF STEM Education

Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS) Subcommittee Chair Sen. Barbara Mikulski singled out and praised slated increases in STEM education funding as she presented her subcommittee’s markup of the CJS spending bill to the full committee yesterday afternoon. The subcommittee’s Ranking Member, Sen. Richard Shelby, echoed her comments, and Sen. Pete Domenici lauded the committee for its strict adherence to the recommendations made in the National Academies’ Rising Above the Gathering Storm report. The Senate Appropriations Committee proceeded to pass the CJS bill, which includes spending increases for the National Science Foundation, NASA and other agencies in line with the 10-year doubling of basic research funding proposed under the American Competitiveness Initiative. In particular, the legislation includes $124 million above the president’s request for NSF. Of that, $100 million is slated for STEM education. In total, the Senate Appropriations Committee is recommending a $125M, 22% increase for STEM education at NSF, far greater than the only 11% spending increase for NSF at large. Sen. Mikulski said in a statement that the bill includes funding for new programs authorized under the recently passed America COMPETES Act. The smaller education programs at NASA, NOAA and other agencies will also see increases under this bill. Details will be posted to the Legislative News website as they become available. The Senate floor debate on the bill has not been scheduled.

The House subcommittee has recommended similar growth for STEM education at NSF – $72M above the administration request for a total 17% increase – although the full committee will not consider the bill until after next week’s July 4th recess. The NSF administers a variety of education programs, such as GK-12, the NSF’s MSP education research, and STEP. More details on some NSF programs are available on the foundation’s Education and Human Resources Directorate website, here.

Consider contacting your Senators or Representative to encourage them to support this increase in funding for education programs at NSF. For more information, visit the Contact Congress page on the Triangle Coalition website, here. For more information on this and other appropriations legislation, visit the Appropriations Legislation Tracker on the Triangle Coalition website, here.

Also at the hearing, Sens. Mikulski and Shelby promised to raise in the full Senate an amendment to provide NASA with $1B of "emergency funding." The emergency funds would increase funding for NASA's science and other accounts. Funds have been cut from those accounts over the last two years and instead used by NASA to upgrade the shuttle fleet in response to the Shuttle Columbia disaster. NASA's annual dedicated education budget is roughly $180M.

Recent caucus events highlight importance of STEM ed

On Thursday, the House Diversity and Innovation Caucus held its inaugural event, launching the caucus with a luncheon highlighting the vast underrepresentation of women and racial and ethnic minorities in STEM fields and STEM education programs. At the launch, Congressman Silvestre Reyes, a founding and influential member of the caucus, announced that more than 60 members of congress had joined and pledged their support for programs to increase the participation of underrepresented groups in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. He pointed out that according to the U.S. Census, 39 percent of the population under the age of 18 is a racial or ethnic minority. Yet, in 2000, only 4.4 percent of the science and engineering jobs were held by African Americans and only 3.4 percent by Hispanics. Women constitute half of the post-secondary students in the nation, but represent little more than one quarter of our science and engineering workforce. Also present at the launch event, organized by the Society of Women Engineers, was Congresswoman Edith Johnson, who passed her first STEM diversity legislation in 1974. She stressed the need to change the culture in underrepresented groups to make STEM jobs more attractive. Rep. Michael Honda followed by encouraging policymakers to disaggregate data to help in forming productive programs. Women constitute a strong majority of African American undergraduate students, but a clear minority of post-graduate students in STEM fields, he pointed out. Programs designed to increase diversity need to be attuned to these facts to be effective.

The goals of the new Diversity and Innovation Caucus are:

• Generate policy ideas for increasing the participation of groups under-represented in the STEM fields;
• Articulate the importance of pro-STEM and pro-innovation policies for groups under-represented in STEM;
• Communicate the importance of promoting diversity in STEM for the achievement of America's innovation and competitiveness goals; and
• Work with Congressional Leadership and relevant committees to ensure that innovation and competitiveness policy is shaped in such a way that it takes advantage of the potential offered by minority communities and by women, groups that are both under-represented in the STEM fields.
  

In a separate event last week, the Senate STEM Education Caucus hosted the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education for a briefing entitled "Preparing STEM Teachers: The Key to Global Competitiveness." The well-attended morning briefing featured a panel of education policy experts, business leaders and exemplary STEM teachers. The panelists presented thoughts on how the congress could legislate improvements in teacher effectiveness. In particular, Stanford Professor Linda Darling-Hammond highlighted a recent report by the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future and focused on the need to retain STEM teachers once they're recruited to the field. She suggested service scholarships (as opposed to post-hoc forgivable loans) to cover the cost of high-quality pre-service programs for those who agree to teach in a high-need field or location for at least four years; higher-quality pre-service programs, which have been shown to lead to greater teacher retention; and expanded in-service professional development and mentoring and improved working conditions, all of which have also been shown to encourage greater retention. The panelists presentations are available online, here.

H-1B Visa STEM programs down and out

After the first failed cloture vote nearly three weeks ago, the immigration bill that contained a more than $0.5B STEM scholarship program was down, but not out. After yesterday's failure, the second, the legislation is down and out and will not be reconsidered. There is, however, rampant speculation that H-1B visa reform will return as a piece of another bill later this year. Should that effort resume, we will continue to track the Sanders and Grassley amendments. Stay tuned.

Senate subcommittee marks up FY08 Energy and Water bill, summary

The Energy and Water Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations committee marked up their FY08 spending bill on Wednesday night. The bill, like the companion House bill, allocates funds above the level requested by the Bush administration. The Senate bill totals $32.3B; the House bill, which has been debated and amended by the full House and is awaiting a vote, suggests roughly $31.6B. Tracking information for the House bill is here. The committee press release describing the Senate bill is here (PDF).

The Senate targets negligibly less funding for the DOE Office of Science, suggesting $4.497B compared to the House's $4.513B. Both are 3% above the president's request and 19% above FY07 funding. The Senate's $228M allocation for hydrogen technology surpasses the House's by 7%. Further information about the Senate Energy and Water appropriation, including about STEM programs, will be published as it becomes available.

The Commerce, Justice and Science Subcommittee also marked up their FY08 bill on Wednesday, but details are not yet available. Both bills will be considered by the whole Appropriations Committee on Thursday, June 28th.

Bush addresses STEM Ed proposals in speech

President George W. Bush addressed a wide range of education topics in a speech on the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind law at the White House on Monday, June 25th. (Speech text.) Bush urged Congressional leaders, including Buck McKeon, the ranking member of the House Ed Labor committee, who was present at the speech, to reauthorize the law this year. Education staffers for both parties have suggested that they hope to address NCLB before the August recess.

While mounting a strong defense of the key provisions of the NCLB law, the president advocated for several new programs, including the Adjunct Teacher Corps, which would provide for 30,000 mid-career STEM professionals to enter teaching at federal expense. Bush also pushed AP expansion, voucher programs, and the teacher incentive fund, which provides grants to LEAs to develop salary bonuses for teachers based on student achievement.

His speech steered clear of the Reading First program, which has recently generated controversy, and instead addressed the importance of STEM education. "We want to make sure we strengthen math and science," Bush said, "Because we can't be a competitive nation without more scientists and more mathematicians. Because in order for us to make sure the best jobs are in America requires us having mathematicians and scientists and engineers and physicists."

The Congressional Leadership has yet to put forth their proposal for NCLB reauthorization, so it's not known how many, if any, of the president's proposals will become law. If they are authorized, however, we won't be seeing them in 2008. Committee appropriators are refusing to provide FY2008 funding for many of Bush's initiatives, including for the Adjunct Teacher Corps, Math Now, or vouchers programs such as the Promise and Opportunity Scholarships.

HEA reauthorization proceeds; expands SMART Grants

This Wednesday, June 20th, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee addressed a reauthorization bill for the Higher Education Act. The bill that the committee quickly passed enjoyed support from both the committee Chairman, Sen. Kennedy, and Ranking Member, Sen. Enzi.

The bill primarily addresses revisions to the federal financial aid system, and mandates increases in the maximum Federal Pell Grant (from $4,310 to $5,400 in FY08), simplifies the FAFSA application, and provides college loan forgiveness for ten-year public servants. In response to recent college loan scandals the bill mandates that colleges establish codes of conduct for their loan officers. The HEA reauthorization also includes a number provisions which encourage colleges to partner with high need local school districts to provide teacher mentoring and induction programs -- for both new teachers and education students -- and to boost college access for students.

Three provisions related to STEM education, and language in several locations stressed the importance of "math, science and engineering" education.

• The bill will establish a Mathematics and Science Scholars Program that provides up to $1,000 in scholarships for college or university tuition and fees for the first two years of undergraduate study. The program will be organized as block grants to states and will require 50% matching funds. Eligible applicants are those who have completed a rigorous secondary math and science curriculum, as determined by the state. There is no requirement that the student study a STEM field at the post-secondary level. Each state may also preferentially award scholarships to students from groups under-represented in STEM fields, or who come from high-need high schools.
• The SMART Grants, which provide $4,000 scholarships for advanced undergraduates in STEM fields who are also eligible for Federal Pell Grants have been renamed "American Competitiveness Grants" and eligibility requirements have been loosened. Students may now be entering their first through fifth year of study (formerly, only third or fourth) at a university and must only be enrolled half-time instead of full-time. Students of critical foreign languages are now also eligible for these grants.
• The reauthorization also creates a new grant program, designed to improve STEM education for Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian students. The legislation authorizes grants to partnerships to expand or develop programs at any level K-16 that encourage or improve the teaching of STEM to Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian students.
  

When available, the text of the bill, number S. 1642, will be posted on the THOMAS website of the Library of Congress, here. Sen. Enzi's statement on the bill can be read here (PDF), and Sen. Kennedy's statement is here (PDF).

Useful S.761, H.R. 2272 Comparison

The Alliance for Science & Technology Research in America (ASTRA) and the American Chemical Society, a Triangle Coalition partner, have teamed up to release a side-by-side comparison of the two primary pieces of competitiveness legislation in the House and Senate, H.R. 2272 and S. 761. The ASTRA comparison, which addresses R&D funding in greater detail than the Triangle Coalition's updates have, is available online, here (PDF).

Senate LHHS appropriations summary

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education completed markup of their FY2008 spending bill on Tuesday, June 19th. The more than $152B proposal is sized similarly to the House Subcommittee's markup, but more highly prioritizes programs at the Departments of Labor and HHS, at the expense of programs at the Department of Education. The available information doesn't yet allow direct comparisons of all funding levels between the House and Senate bills, but some information is available below. The following funding levels were proposed:

• NCLB Title I Grants to LEAs: $13.9B. Up $1B from FY07. Identical to the administration request, but more than $1B below the House Subcommittee's mark.
  
• Reading First: $800M. Down $200M from FY07. $200M below the administration request. $400M above the House mark.
• NCLB Title 1 School Improvement Grants: $500M. A quadrupling of the $125M FY07 budget. Identical to the request and House budget.
  
• Math and Science Partnerships: $184M. Up slightly from $182.2M in FY07. The administration and House kept funding at $182.2M.
• Education Technology Grants to States: $272M. Identical to the FY07 and House appropriation levels. The administration had proposed cutting the program.
• Math Now, Promise and Opportunity Scholarships and Adjunct Teacher Corps, all received $0 funding, as they did in the House.
  
• Advanced Placement Programs: $42M. $5M greater than FY07, but not the requested $122M. The House suggested $37.5M.

The Subcommittee has released a press release (PDF) describing the bill, which expands funding both beyond the FY2007 level and beyond the administration request. A full funding table is also available (PDF).

The spending bill is scheduled for consideration by the full appropriations committee on Thursday.

College Cost Reduction Act Contains STEM Teacher Recruitment Incentives

The House Committee on Education and Labor reported a bill last Wednesday, the "College Cost Reduction Act" (CCRA), which would redirect nearly $20B in federal spending over ten years to reduce college costs. The CCRA is the first of an expected two House bills to reauthorize the Higher Education Act. The House has already passed a provisional reauthorization of the HEA in current form through Oct. 31. The Committee majority has a summary of the CCRA bill posted here (PDF).

Included under Title III of the bill, H.R. 2669, are TEACH Grants, annual $4,000 scholarships for undergraduate or graduate students who promise to teach for a high-need subject area for four years in a high-need school. High-need subjects are defined as "mathematics, science, a foreign language, bilingual education, or special education, or as a reading specialist" and other areas, determined as necessary by the LEA in conjunction with the Secretary of Education. An additional $500 per year grant program, "Bonus TEACH Grants" exclusively funds future STEM teachers. The legislation authorizes such funds as may be necessary -- essentially giving appropriators a blank check to fund the program at a level of their choosing.

Sound familiar? It should. The TEACH Grants are established with language taken nearly verbatim from the Kennedy-Miller TEACH Act. Both bills purport to modify the Higher Education Act, but the CCRA is moving faster. No word has been given on the (numerous) remaining TEACH Act provisions.

Also included under Title III of the CCRA is a program to establish centers of excellence at universities and colleges to recruit and train teachers. From FY2008-12, $50M total is appropriated for this program from funds appropriated to ED that are not directed for other use. The program sunsets after FY2012.

FY2008 Appropriations

The following overview of the FY2008 appropriations process was continually updated throughout 2007 and into 2008. It starts with a brief summary of the general FY08 appropriations process, and is followed by a detailed chart that maps the progress of the three appropriations bills most relevant to STEM education funding. If you would simply like to see the final funding levels for STEM education in the 2008 omnibus appropriations bill, click here.

The departments and agencies of the executive branch of the federal government receive annual appropriations through 12 separate funding bills, each controlled by a subcommittee of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. Spending bills are passed from subcommittee to committee to chamber to conference, and upon final passage from both chambers, to the president for signature.

The House completed their 12 appropriations bills by the start of the 2008 fiscal year, on Oct. 1, 2007, however the Senate did not, leading to a continuing resolution (CR) to fund government operations through Nov. 16. Details on this first CR (H.J. Res. 52) can be found here. A second CR was then passed on Nov. 13 as a part of the Defense Appropriations bill, and funded government operations through Dec. 14. A third CR was signed into law Dec 14, and provided operation funds through Dec. 21. Finally, a fourth CR was signed on Dec. 21 to provide funding until Dec. 31, at which point the below omnibus bill went into effect.

Below is an overview, which was continuously updated throughout the year, of the progress on 3 of the 12 appropriations bills that have large investments in STEM education. The first section below summarizes the final passage of an omnibus bill to fund all appropriations for 2008 (excepting funds covered in the Defense appropriations bill). The second section covers the minimal actions taken in conference committee for these three bills, before the appropriators combined them, along with the eight others, into a single omnibus package; of the three STEM education-related bills, the Labor-HHS bill was the only one that made it through conference (so that section below is historically helpful for the Labor-HHS bill, but not useful for final spending numbers). The last two sections are separated into the three subcommittees in each chamber that dealt with the three bills prior to conference committee.

OMNIBUS BILL Appropriations:

• Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008: Incorporates all appropriations bills, except Defense
• Status: Signed by the President on 12/26; Statement by the President; Statement by the Senate Majority Leader.
  
• Bill Number: H.R. 2764.
  
• Triangle Coalition News Items: Announcement of Omnibus and Veto Threat; Revised Version Passes House and Senate; Omnibus Funding Levels for STEM Education.
  

CONFERENCE COMMITTEE Appropriations:

• Energy and Water Development: Department of Energy
• Status: Not sent to Conference Committee, wrapped into omnibus bill.
  
• Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (LHHS): Department of Education, NIH
  
• Status: Vetoed on 11/13; Statement by the President; wrapped into omnibus bill.
• Final Bill Number: H.R. 3043. Conference Report: H. Rept. 110-424.
• Triangle Coalition News Items: Combined with Veterans' Affairs Bill; Later Split from Veterans' Affairs Bill (includes important summary of STEM ed. funding in bill); Veto Summary.
  
• Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS): NASA, NIST, NOAA, NSF
• Status: Did not make it through Conference Committee, wrapped into omnibus bill.

HOUSE Appropriations:

• House Energy and Water Development Subcommittee: Department of Energy
• Status: Passed by the House on 7/17; Vote.
  
• Bill Number: H.R. 2641. Committee Report: H. Rept. 110-185. Veto Threat: SAP (PDF).
  
• Triangle Coalition News Items: Bill Summary, Bill Details.
  
• House Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (LHHS) Subcommittee: Department of Education, NIH
  
• Status: Passed by the House on 7/19; Vote1, Vote2.
  
• Bill Number: H.R. 3043. Committee Report: H. Rept. 110-231. Veto Threat: SAP (PDF).
  
• Triangle Coalition News Items: Bill Summary, Bill Details, Response1, Response2.
  
• House Commerce, Justice and Science Subcommittee: NASA, NIST, NOAA, NSF
• Status: Passed by the House on 7/26; Vote1, Vote2.
  
• Bill Number: H.R. 3093. Committee Report: H. Rept. 110-240. Veto Threat: SAP (PDF).
  
• Triangle Coalition News Items: Bill Summary, Amendment Details, Final Vote Summary.
  

SENATE Appropriations:

• Senate Energy and Water Development Subcommittee: Department of Energy
• Status: Passed by the Appropriations Committee on 6/28.
  
• Bill Number: S. 1751. Committee Report: S. Rept. 110-127.
  
• Triangle Coalition News Items: Bill Summary.
  
• Senate Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (LHHS) Subcommittee: Department of Education, NIH
  
• Status: Passed by the Senate on 10/23; Vote 1, Vote 2.
  
• Bill Number: S. 1710. Committee Report: S. Rept. 110-107.
• Triangle Coalition News Items: Bill Summary, Amendment Details, Final Vote Summary.
  
• Senate Commerce, Justice and Science Subcommittee: NASA, NIST, NOAA, NSF
• Status: Passed by the Senate on 10/16; Vote 1, Vote 2.
• Bill Numbers: S. 1745; H.R.3093. Committee Report: S. Rept. 110-124.
• Triangle Coalition News Items: Bill Summary, Bill Details, Update, Final Vote Summary.
  

This news item was updated as the bills progressed. For an archive of all news items related to a specific area of appropriations, across both chambers, click on any of the following links: Energy and Water, Labor-HHS-Education, and Commerce, Justice and Science. For an archive of all FY 2008 appropriations-related news items ordered by date, click here.

Energy and Water Appropriations Details

The American Institute of Physics, a Triangle Coalition partner, has a detailed analysis of the science R&D aspects of the FY2008 DOE appropriations posted in their FYI newsletter. Total spending in the bill is $1.1B over the administration request. Overall funding for the Office of Science is up nearly 20% from FY2007, more than $100m above the administration request. Full details are available in the bill (H.R. 2641) and accompanying Committee Report (H. Rept. 110-185 (PDF))

Education programs in the bill are also funded at a much higher rate than FY2007. Despite large cuts to a program to fund nuclear science at colleges and universities, dedicated education funding at DOE is up 23% over FY07 to $62M. Additional funding for education within DOE is included alongside administrative and research funding in single line items and is not separated in the committee report or this summary. Below, we post a detailed analysis of the education provisions of the bill.

• The nearly 20% increase at the Office of Science will fund an additional 3,500 researchers, including graduate students.


• The Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists, the coordinating body for DOE education programs, received a sizable increase of $3M, or 38%. The committee recommendation of $11M was identical to the administration request.


• The Hydrogen Technology program under the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy program was funded at roughly 10% below the administration request. The committee mark for hydrogen education was only $2M of the $3.9M requested by the administration. However, the FY07 education budget was $~500,000, so despite the cut from the request, the funding for education has increased by 300% in the bill.
• UPDATE: During debate in the full chamber on June 20th, the spending bill was amended to provide the full administration request for the Hydrogen Technology program, $213M, including a full $3.9M for education.
  


• The Nuclear Energy University Reactor Infrastructure and Education Assistance Program will be cut from the DOE budget this year, after two years of administration requests for $0 funding. The FY07 budget was nearly $27M. Instead, the committee will fund $3M for fuel replacement and removal for university reactors under the Radiological Facilities Management -- Research Reactor Infrastructure program. The committee directs the transfer of the education assistance program to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission at $15M funding. The committee report reads:
• DOE annually requests no funding for education assistance, and the Congress sees fit every year to restore the funding. It is irresponsible for the Department [of Energy] to zero out education assistance at a time when the nuclear industry is attempting to revitalize. By requesting no funds for this program, the Department sends the wrong signal to aspiring students in the nuclear field that there is a lack of a commitment to a future with nuclear energy. The Committee therefore entrusts the NRC with the responsibility of providing a sustainable education assistance program... Some of these funds [the $15M for NRC] are to be used to help support scholarships to attend trade school programs that develop skills needed to facilitate construction and operation of nuclear facilities and the handling of nuclear materials. In addition, these funds are to be used for college scholarships and graduate fellowships to develop critical nuclear regulatory skills and those skills needed by the regulated industries, including engineering and health physics, and for faculty development grants supporting faculty in these academic areas in the first six years of their careers.


• The DOE National Nuclear Security Administration Office of the Administrator is appropriated $31M "to expand the support to the HBCUs’ [Historically Black Colleges and Universities] scientific and technical programs in fiscal year 2008." The program was funded at more than $15.2M in FY06 and more than $20M in FY05. Details about the program.

As expected, the spending bill is not without controversy. The bill is rather atypical in that it does not direct funding to particular federal projects; in years past, the Committee has provided more direct instruction to federal agencies on how the appropriations are to be spent. The Committee intends to add these earmarks when the bill reaches conference with the Senate.

The President has released a statement threatening to veto this and other funding bills with bottom lines that exceed the administration request.

Commerce, Justice, Science appropriations summary: subcommittee markup

This Monday, June 11th, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science, which has jurisdiction over agencies including NASA, NSF, and NIST, has increased funding beyond the administration's request for STEM research and education activities. A full analysis will be posted shortly once more concrete data is available, but a cursory summary of the major STEM education provisions is as follows:

• NSF Education Funding: Up $72M on top of the administration's requested increase, for a total of $124M additional funding on an FY07 budget of $698.5M. A 17.8% increase.
• $66M for Math and Science Partnerships ($46M request, $63M in FY07)
  
• $46M for Robert Noyce Scholarships ($10M request, $8.9 in FY07)
  


• NASA Education Funding: Up $39M, ($66M higher than the administration request), an increase of 22% on a FY2007 budget of $181M.


• Added funding for two new educational programs directed at climate change as recommended by the National Academies, one at NSF and the other at NASA.

In total, the bill provides over $28B for science research and education, nearly $1B more than the president's request. The bill in total, at $53.6B, is $2.3B above the president's request. A press release (PDF) has been written by the subcommittee chairman.

TC Response to LHHS appropriations: Encourage the Appropriations Committee to increase funding for MSP

The Triangle Coalition just released a letter in support of increased funding for the Math and Science Partnership program at the Department of Education and we are encouraging our member organizations with an interest in STEM teacher professional development to do the same before the Appropriations Committee itself addresses the bill this Thursday morning. Update: Rescheduled. See below for details.]

Detailed information about the LHHS spending bill, as marked up in subcommittee, is available as a news item on this webpage, and member organizations may model their letters off of our sample. The fax number for the majority office of the committee is (202) 225-5078 and the fax number for the minority office of the committee is (202) 225-9476. Check the appropriations committee website to see if your representative is a member. If so, you may achieve better results by contacting that member directly.

Update (6/13/07): Rep. Vern Ehlers, a champion of the Math & Science Partnership Program has written another Dear Colleague letter to appropriations committee members urging increased funding for MSP at tomorrow's committee markup.

Update 2 (6/14/07): The scheduled Thursday morning, 6/14, full committee markup of the LHHS bill has been canceled. We'll update this legislative news page with more information as it becomes available. In the mean time, you and your organization have more time to contact the committee and your congressmen to express your support for the MSP program!

Update 3 (6/19/07): The full appropriations committee is now expected to consider the LHHS bill sometime after the July 4th recess.

---

June 12, 2007

The Honorable David R. Obey
Chairman
House Committee on Appropriations
Subcommittee on Labor, Health,
Human Services and Education
B300 Rayburn Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable James T. Walsh
Ranking Member
House Committee on Appropriations
Subcommittee on Labor, Health,
Human Services and Education
1016 Longworth Office Building
Washington, DC 20515


Dear Chairman Obey and Ranking Member Walsh:

As the LHHS spending bill moves to the full committee, the Triangle Coalition for Science and Technology Education, a nonprofit organization comprised of more than 100 member organizations from the business, education and scientific communities, wishes to express continued support for increased funding of the Math and Science Partnership program at the Department of Education. Under the subcommittee markup, the program received flat funding of $182 million for the third straight year.

A chorus of experts, including educators, industry leaders and pioneering scientists, has documented a deficiency in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teaching corps at the same time as they have confirmed the high value of such education to our nation’s continued prosperity. Most recently, a June 11th report by the Business-Higher Education Forum explicitly called on the federal government to expand support for programs that provide professional development to in-service teachers.

Increased funding for Math and Science Partnerships is the only option consistent with the leadership that the Congress has shown on STEM education initiatives this year. If we’re actually serious about improving American competitiveness, then we must invest in programs like the Math and Science Partnership program that have a demonstrated record of improving instruction at the local level. This program is the only dedicated source of funding for math and science teacher professional development.

We respectfully request that you continue to support science and mathematics instruction by providing all possible additional support to the Math and Science Partnership program. If you should have any questions or comments on this letter, please contact me directly at (703) 516-5965 or ablottv@triangle-coalition.org.

Sincerely,


Vance R. Ablott
Executive Director

LHHS Appropriations details: Level funding for Math & Science Partnership program at Education

Late last Thursday, June 7th, the House Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) subcommittee marked up the LHHS spending bill for FY2008. While overall funding for NCLB programs at the Department of Education increased 8.4% and funding for NCLB Title I increased nearly 15%, NCLB Title II Part B, the Math and Science Partnership (MSP) program at the Department of Education received only level funding of $182M.

The Math and Science Partnerships are the only dedicated source of Department of Education funding for teacher professional development in STEM fields. The program, created in the 2002 NCLB Act, provides block grants to states to distribute to partnerships of local education agencies (LEAs) and college and universities to improve STEM instruction and student achievement. When funding is less than $100M, the funding mechanism changes and the grants are administered directly to LEAs in partnership with a college or university and a state department of education.

(Title II, Part A Teacher Quality Grants, which also fund professional development, are not targeted to any specific discipline. With science not currently included in the calculation of AYP in most states, states have little impetus to direct those funds to anyone other than reading and mathematics teachers. Title II, Part A receives a $300M increase, up to $3.2B, in the committee markup.)

Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002, MSP has been authorized at a level of $450M annually, but actual funding has never approached the authorized level. A history of actual and proposed funding levels is presented in the table below:



This year, in advance of the subcommittee markup, a bipartisan group of 39 representatives signed a letter in support of full, $450M funding for MSP. A coalition of more than 30 outside organizations, including ACS, AIP, NSTA, NCTM, and others, also wrote a letter in support of full funding for MSP. The Triangle Coalition includes $450 funding for MSP as part of our 2007 Legislative Platform.

Other components of the markup include: as mentioned, an additional $1.9B for NCLB Title I; flat funding of $272.25M for Education Technology State Grants (administration request: $0.); no funding for Math Now at either the elementary or middle school level (administration request: $250M, total); no funding for adjunct teacher corps (administration request: $25M); $50M funding, a 35% increase, for advanced placement programs (administration request: $122M); no funding for Opportunity or Promise Scholarship programs that would have provided money for children in under-performing public schools to receive tutoring or enroll in private school (administration request: $300M, total); and funding of $400M for Reading First, a decrease of 61% (administration request, $1B). A table of the subcommittee's appropriations is available online (PDF).

Energy and Water and Labor, HHS and ED appropriations summary: House beginning spending bill markups

The subcommittees of the House Appropriations Committee have begun to markup the spending bills for FY2008. The Committee divides federal spending bills among 12 subcommittees, which markup individual spending bills for approval by the committee and then the full House. To date, several bills have been passed, including those addressing the Department of Education and the Department of Energy. The Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science will markup their spending bill this evening. That bill will include funding for NSF, NASA and NIST.

The Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education passed their spending bill by a unanimous voice vote last Thursday, June 7th. The subcommittee has put out a press release with general information on the FY2008 spending bill, which is still several votes away from conference with any potential Senate bill.

A more detailed summary -- with information on funding for science education programs -- will be added to this legislative news page shortly, but a brief sketch is posted below:

• Department of Education funding: Up 7.4% from FY2007 to $61.7B, a $4.2B increase.


• Pell Grants: Up 14.5%, or $2B, to increase maximum grant from $4,310 to $4,700.


• ESEA/NCLB: Up 8.4%, or $2B. $1.9B of which goes toward increasing Title I grants.


• Reading First: Down $631M, roughly 61%.


• NIH: Up 4%, or $750M to $29.6B.
  

The House Energy and Water spending bill has been addressed by the full Committee and contains sizable increases for programs under the Department of Energy. The Committee press release is online. Some details:

• Department of Energy funding: Up 4.8% from FY2007 to $25.243B, a $1.15B increase.


• Office of Science: Up $715.8M to $4.52B, more than $100M greater than the President's budget proposal. Includes specific increases in funding for climate science and energy research.


• The bill also includes funding increases for a variety of energy R&D programs, environmental cleanup activities, and nuclear nonproliferation efforts.


• An analysis of STEM education funding under DOE will not be possible until the committee releases either a funding table or the Committee Report. More information will be posted to the Legislative News page as it becomes available.
  

The Senate has yet to produce any spending bills.

Study Shows Gains Under NCLB; House Holds Eighth Hearing on Reauthorization

The Washington, DC-based Center on Education Policy (CEP) released a study of more than five years of testing data from all 50 states that indicated that student achievement is growing nearly nationwide, that the achievement gap is shrinking in most states, and that the pace of improvement increased after the 2002 enactment of the NCLB law. The study showed greater gains in mathematics than in reading.

"This study confirms that No Child Left Behind has struck a chord of success with our nation's schools and students," U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said in a statement. Jack Jennings, the President of the CEP countered that the study does not show causality. He pointed out that the last decade has seen a number of school reform efforts that might be coming to fruition. "No Child Left Behind, though, is clearly part of the mix of reforms whose fruit we are now seeing," he said.

On the heels of the release of this report on NCLB, the House held its eighth hearing on the reauthorization of the law. At June 7th hearing, the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education heard five witnesses speak on flexibility for state and local districts under the law. Jennings, one of five witnesses at the hearing, presented the study's findings to a receptive audience of congressmen.

Other witnesses included representatives from a variety of professional organizations and Chester Finn, director of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation. Those witnesses representing the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE), Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), and Council of Great City Schools (CGCS) largely repeated their organizations' positions on NCLB reauthorization. (Read those position papers here: NASBE and CCSSO (PDF), and CGCS (PDF).)

The committee asked several questions on the technical feasibility of tracking individual student achievement over time. Consistent with previous speculation, there appeared to be a rather high interest in growth models among the members present and the witnesses confirmed the feasibility of such models but suggested that states agencies need data support personnel. Also as expected, members questioned the panel on the effect of NCLB on LD and LEP students. Dr. Carol Johnson, Superintendent of the Memphis City Schools suggested that the current system doesn't adequately respect that LD and LEP students concentrate in urban districts where there are more resources. Prompted by Rep. Kildee and Rep. Hare, a conversation on the NAEP exam and national curriculum standards concluded the hearing. Chester Finn of the Fordham Foundation and Carol Johnson who represented the CGCS repeated their endorsements of national standards, and Jack Jennings, a former committee staff member also suggested that national standards might be a good idea. He referenced the Dodd-Ehlers SPEAK Act (S. 224 and H.R. 325) and the Kennedy SUCCESS Act (S. 164) as potential models and cautioned that while incentivized national standards might appear in the future, a national curriculum is not consistent with current law or public mood.

The full testimony of witnesses is available on the committee's website for the hearing, here.

Immigration bill stalls; H-1B visa STEM programs in doubt

After failing twice on a key procedural vote yesterday, Majority Leader Reid withdrew the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 to open the Senate floor to debate on other measures. As has been noted here several times, the bill contained roughly $0.5B for a new STEM scholarship program and at least one other education proposal was to be debated. (See the Legislation Tracker for H-1B Visa Reform.) Both Senator Reid and President Bush expressed hope that discussion on the bill would be renewed, and a version would be passed, later in this legislative session.

House Holds Hearing on Federal STEM Education Programs

On Wednesday, June 6th, the House Science and Technology Committee’s Research and Science Education Subcommittee convened a panel of witnesses representing federal agencies as part of an ongoing exploration of federal STEM programs. Representatives from DOE, NASA, NIH, and NSF gave testimony before a full gallery of onlookers. This hearing followed an event on May 15th where expert educators gave their impressions of federal STEM programs in the context of the recently released report of the American Competitiveness Council (ACC). As expressed in the hearing charter (PDF), the legislators’ concerns were primarily program evaluation and inter-agency coordination and secondarily, program prioritization and dissemination.

To that end, the focus of the discussion was the recently re-constituted Education and Workforce Development subcommittee of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). The NSTC, established in 1993 under the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, is the principal agency tasked with coordinating science and technology policy across the diverse entities that make up the federal research and development enterprise. The Education and Workforce Development subcommittee, to be comprised of representatives from the agencies with membership on the NSTC Committee on Science, will monitor and coordinate STEM education programs as recommended by the ACC report.

Dr. Cora Marrett of NSF, the incoming chairwoman of the subcommittee gave testimony on the subcommittee's goals. Dr. Marrett speculated that in addition to coordination, her organization might also become involved in helping to develop metrics for evaluating programs. Vice-Chair McNerny and Ranking Member Ehlers expressed their high hopes for the subcommittee. Both were concerned about whether the group will have sufficient influence that its recommendations will be acted on by top agency administrators. Dr. Marrett speculated that it would. The congressmen expect the subcommittee to fill a large gap in federal coordination of STEM programs.

Additional Resources:
House Science and Technology Committee press release on the hearing, here.
Prepared witness testimony and committee member statements, here.

House passes bill to establish STEM scholarship database

Yet another piece of STEM education legislation passed the House of Representatives today, in what is quickly shaping up to be a banner year for STEM programs in Congress. Rep. Rush Holt's National STEM Scholarship Database Act passed the House of Representatives on a voice vote today. The bill, which had 33 cosponsors in the house, has no direct companion legislation in the Senate; however, in prior conversations, several Senate staffers indicated their potential interest in such a database.

The bill directs the Secretary of Education to establish and maintain a searchable, public web database of available scholarships, fellowships and other financial assistance for the undergraduate- and graduate-level study of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

"No student should be denied higher education because of the cost," said Holt. "By making financial assistance opportunities easily accessible for the scientists, engineers, and mathematicians of the future, we are investing in our innovative capacity and our economic competitiveness."

Another STEM program proposed under H-1B visa fee reform

The H-1B visa is a popular target this year for proponents of increased education funding. Senator Bernie Sanders proposed and passed an amendment to the immigration bill two weeks ago that would increase the fee to U.S. companies looking to bring skilled foreign labor into the United States. Increased revenue from the change would be used to fund an NSF-administered scholarship program for undergraduate students studying science, technology, engineering or mathematics. (See previous legislative news item, here.)

Before Sanders proposed and passed his amendment, however, Senator Grassley had already offered a separate proposal that would have increased the visa fees by a smaller amount (from $1,500 to $2,000) to raise an additional $32.5 million to fund programs under the Jakob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Act. At the time that the amendment was proposed, the immigration bill did not include any increase in annually granted H-1B visas. However, if the current language remains, the number of H-1B visas granted could nearly triple, and a $500/visa increase in the Javits program would provide $57 to $90M additional for the program. Grassley's amendment was tabled and never acted upon. (The text of the original amendment, No. 1156, is available here on page S6486.) Historically the Javits program has never been funded above $12M. It was flat-funded at $9.6M in FY2007, and the president's budget for FY2008 proposed cutting the program.

The only federally funded gifted education program, the Javits Act supports the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented and provides grants for a variety of activities related primarily to research in educating gifted and talented students. It was originally passed as part of the 1988 ESEA reauthorization. The Department of Education administers the program, and more information about specifically what activities it funds isavailable here, on the ED website. Unlike the scholarships proposed by Sanders, the Javits programs are not STEM-specific.

The National Association for Gifted Children and the Center for Exceptional Children report that Senator Grassley intends to modify and then reoffer his amendment. He currently prefers to redirect some funding from the American Competitiveness Scholarship to the Javits Act. He will not propose a further increase in fees. Their report is available online. (PDF)

A procedural note for those reading the text of the amendments: Senator Grassley's amendment, No. 1156 would modify the senate bill S. 1348, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007. Senator Sanders' amendment, No. 1223 modified another amendment, No. 1150. Amendment No. 1150 is the Kennedy-Specter replacement amendment which would replace the entire text of S. 1348 with the "bipartisan immigration compromise" which has received extensive news coverage lately. That amendment, and not the original bill, is what is currently being debated in the Senate. When and if Senator Grassley reoffers his amendment it will likely be as an amendment to the Kennedy-Specter compromise.

New nanotechnology education bill introduced

A bipartisan delegation led primarily by Oregon Senators and Representatives introduced new bills in the House and Senate last Thursday to provide grants for establishing programs in nanotechnology at the secondary and undergraduate levels. The bills (H.R. 2436 and identical companion S. 1199) would direct the NSF to provide grants of up to $150,000 from an authorized total of $15M annually for the program for FY2008-11. Eligible grant recipients include public, private or charter high schools, community colleges or 4-year institutions of higher education. The grant funds may be used for creation and maintenance of programs in nanotechnology education, including the purchasing of equipment, the training of faculty and teacher education and certification.

The legislation's findings read, "To maintain world leadership in nanotechnology, the United States must make a long-term investment in educating United States students in secondary schools and institutions of higher education." Although not explicitly referred to, a 2006 report from the National Science and Technology Council, a cabinet-level coordinating body for the executive branch, may be the origin of this legislation. In the report, the administration suggests "Societal Dimensions", including K-12 and undergraduate education, should be one focus area for the National Nanotechnology Iniative. Read the report online.

The House bill has been referred to the House Science Education and Research subcommittee and the Senate bill has been sent to the Health, Education, Labor and Pension committee (HELP).

Introducing the TEACH Act

As discussion of NCLB reauthorization gets underway (see the Legislation Tracker for NCLB Reauthorization) one bill sure to receive extensive attention is the Kennedy-Miller TEACH Act, S. 1339 and identical companion H.R. 2204. Although the legislation currently lies dormant in the Congressional committees that deal with taxation, (Senate Finance and House Ways and Means,) as powerful committee chairmen, Kennedy and Miller will likely ensure that their proposal sees legislative light of day. Helping their cause will be 3 cosponsors in the Senate and 49 in the House.

The expansive bill would amend both NCLB and the Higher Education Act (HEA) to revise and establish programs at the Department of Education (ED) relating to recruitment, preparation, distribution and retention of public elementary and secondary school teachers and principals. In total, an additional $3.4 billion/year in spending is authorized through FY2013. The main provisions of the act are as follows:

Recruitment:
It would provide annual $4,000 tuition grants, TEACH grants, to college students who agree to teach in high-need schools and provide additional grants to institutions to recruit teachers with STEM or foreign language degrees. STEM teacher loan forgiveness programs would be extended permanently. Forgiveness amounts would increase from $17.5k to $20k and be applied in annual increments rather than in a lump sum.

Distribution:
The act would direct ED to provide direct grants to local education agencies (LEAs) to increase pay for highly qualified teachers and principals serving in high need districts by $10k - $15k/year for up to four years. Bonuses are also established for teachers who serve in additional capacities with the school, such as mentor teachers and those on school leadership teams. Further bonuses are available for teachers of high need subjects, such as science, math and special education. The legislation authorizes $2.4B for each FY2008-13 for these purposes.

Preparation:
The TEACH Act would amend the ESEA Act to establish a variety of initiatives to help teachers transition into the classroom and build their skills at high-need schools. Also included is an extensive reporting provision that requires states to monitor their progress toward a number of teaching quality goals, including the goal of increasing the number of teachers who effectively integrate technology into curricula.

Retention:
The TEACH Act would authorize federal grants to teacher centers that provide professional development for new and existing teachers. It would amend the Internal Revenue Code to exclude up to $15,000 of gross income from taxation for teachers teaching in high need schools or high need subjects, including STEM, ELL and special ed. The act also increases from $250 to $500 the maximum deduction for certain expenses of all schoolteachers.

Science and Accountability Act

The Triangle Coalition released the following letter endorsing Rep. Vernon Ehler's Science Accountability Act, a simple bill which would include science in the assessment of educational progress under No Child Left Behind. (H.R. 35, online here.) The bill would also phase in annual assessments in science for grades 3-8 by the 2009-10 school year. The inclusion of science assessments in the calculation of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) was a plank of the Triangle Coalition legislative platform adopted at the 2007 Triangle Coalition Annual Conference.

Rep. Ehler's office is continuing to seek organizations willing to endorse his legislation. Letters of support can be faxed to Rep. Ehlers' office at (202)225-5144. If you do endorse or would like help writing an endorsement, contact us -- We'd love to hear from you!

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Dear Representative Ehlers:

The Triangle Coalition for Science and Technology Education, a nonprofit organization comprised of more than 100 member organizations from the business, education, and scientific communities, supports your efforts to require that science assessments be included in the accountability system of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. We endorse passage of H.R. 35, the Science Accountability Act.

We support the inclusion of science assessments in the calculation of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), as it may be the best way to ensure that quality science experiences will be provided to all students in grades K-12. Under current law, many believe that science is getting short shrift in the classroom at a time when expert after expert has confirmed the high value of such an education to our nation’s continued prosperity. Your proposal will encourage high standards in our schools, help identify areas of instruction needing improvement, and publicly place emphasis on the importance of science.

We also hope that Congress will allow states flexibility in determining what constitutes progress and assessment so as to encourage the use of hands-on, inquiry-based instruction that inspires students and trains them to think critically. Allowing for greater flexibility will encourage states to develop performance-based models that are more in keeping with the way in which students learn science and will allow proper evaluation of student performance in science.

We appreciate and admire your continued leadership in this area and hope to work with you on passage of this bill. If you should have questions or comments on this letter, please contact me directly at (703) 516-5965 or ablottv@triangle-coalition.org.

Sincerely,

Vance Ablott
Executive Director
Triangle Coalition for Science and Technology Education