Holt and Ehlers Boost Support for Math & Science Partnerships

(Washington, D.C.) – Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) and Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) yesterday successfully increased funding for Math and Science Partnerships, a critical teacher development program within the U.S. Department of Education, by $15.6 million.

 

“Congress owes it to children, families, teachers, and our nation’s economic future to do everything we can to prepare students for the highly-skilled and innovative job market that they will soon face,” said Holt. “Math and science skills are essential to preparing them to make the transition to the workforce. Helping our teachers to pass on these skills effectively is an important part of making a highly-skilled and innovative economy a reality.”

 

No Child Left Behind changed the Eisenhower Program, which provided training and professional development for math and science teachers, and created instead the Math and Science Partnerships program. Subsequently, the funding was cut to about a quarter of what had previously been provided, and it has never recovered.   Through the Eisenhower Program, math and science teacher development programs were funded at a level of $485 million. The 2008 Labor-Health and Human Services Appropriations bill proposed funding the successor programs for math and science teacher professional development at $182 million. The Ehlers-Holt amendment would increase funding by $15.6 million.

 

Holt and Ehlers, both physicists, have collaborated frequently on matters relating to science and math education, and federal support for scientific research and development. Math and Science Partnerships is the only national teacher development program available to teachers in all schools across the U.S.

 

“A bipartisan group of business leaders, educators, Nobel laureates, and others understand that if our economy and our productivity are to grow, we must do better in math and science education,” said Holt. “Math and science partnerships provide the professional development for teachers that directly strengthen skills.”

 

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