Monday, January 31, 2011

President Obama's Plans for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)Education

Both education and STEM education were prominently mentioned during President Obama’s State of the Union address on January 25. During the speech, the President vowed to prepare 100,000 more STEM teachers over the next ten years with a $100 million investment designed to prepare undergraduates pursuing STEM careers to become teachers and to increase research on how to best recruit, prepare, and retain the best STEM teachers. Four STEM students and a STEM CEO were guests of First Lady Michelle Obama, and were on hand (and on camera) when the President said “We need to teach our kids that it’s not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair; that success is not a function of fame or PR, but of hard work and discipline.” During the speech he also called on Congress to reauthorize No Child Left Behind, stating “Race to the Top should be the approach we follow this year as we replace No Child Left Behind with a law that is more flexible and focused on what’s best for our kids.”