White House Doubles Money for STEM Initiative
As part of an event to honor educators Jan. 6, President Obama announced an additional $250 million in government and private-sector funding to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics instruction. The money, which mostly comes from high-tech businesses such as Intel, which has pledged $200 million over the next 10 years, as well as top universities and foundations, is designated to help the nation compete in key fields with global economic rivals. The new money doubles, to more than $500 million, a campaign for STEM education that Obama launched in November.
The President has sought to make science and math education a national cause. The $4 billion Race to the Top federal grant competition for education reform funding gives states added incentive for proposals that stress STEM instruction. With funding from high-tech businesses, universities and foundations, the STEM initiative seeks to prepare more than 10,000 new math and science schoolteachers over five years and provide on-the-job training for an additional 100,000.
Separately, the government spends about $700 million a year on elementary and secondary education in the STEM fields through agencies such as NASA, the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Education Department. During the awards ceremony, the President jokingly told the more than 100 honorees that they were really invited to provide tutoring for his two daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, on their upcoming math exams.
Read more in this Washington Post article.
“Barack Obama…” by Center for American Progress Action Fund (Wikipedia Commons)
Filed under: K-12 Education News
Tags: Events, Grant Opportunities
