BHEF Testifies in Support of K-12 STEM Education Reform

Washington, DC (March 4, 2010) — Underscoring the high-level leadership of its members, three Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF) members today testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Science and Technology Committee in support of K-12 science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education reform, specifically as it relates to reauthorization of the America COMPETES Act.

Jim Simons, founder and chairman of Math for America (MƒA); Gordon Gee, president, Ohio State University; and Jeffrey Wadsworth, president and CEO, Battelle Memorial Institute all testified in support of the bill’s reauthorization, as well as for strong partnerships involving business, K-12, and higher education that would bolster current programs and efforts and lead to even more successful ones.

Congress in 2007 passed and the president signed into law the committee’s landmark legislation, which sought to ensure not only that the nation will produce the world’s leading scientists and engineers but also that all students will have a strong grounding in math and science. Through the COMPETES Act, key teacher training programs, including the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program at the National Science Foundation, were expanded and strengthened. The MƒA model was used in establishing a new component of the Noyce program in COMPETES. The committee now is considering reauthorization of the critical legislation.

“While I was especially pleased that Chairman Gordon, using the MƒA model of stipends, scholarships and support, included an amendment to the COMPETES bill to substantially bolster the existing Robert Noyce Scholarship program, I strongly believe we need to continue to strengthen that effort during this reauthorization process,” Simons testified.

Gee stressed the need for a comprehensive P-20 STEM education approach to reform. “Significant change in the quality and reach of STEM education requires our unrelenting pursuit of deeper partnerships across the educational spectrum, with business and industry, government, parents and extended families, and our communities,” he said. “We must work together to foster stronger early-learning skills for preschoolers and to encourage all high school students to be STEM literate, with greater numbers of them ready to pursue advanced STEM studies in college.”

Wadsworth reiterated the partnership angle, saying that a key to Battelle’s success as a research and development organization is putting partnerships in place. “We are applying these same skills to link schools and regions together in Ohio to accelerate STEM education innovation. The natural extension is to link states together in a similar systematic fashion,” he testified.

Battelle now is working with national organizations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Governors Association, to create multi-state networks. It currently is connecting networks across Ohio, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Washington, and adding other states and private corporations in this process.