STEM Legislation a Good First Step

Strengthening science, technology, engineering and math education is a priority issue on Capitol Hill and within the Bush Administration. Leaders on the Hill and within the Administration believe a greater focus on so-called “STEM” issues is necessary to maintain U.S. leadership in the global economy. The campaign was given great emphasis last year following publication of a report by the National Academies titled “Rising Above the Gathering Storm,” which argued that U.S. advantages in the marketplace and in science and technology have begun to erode.

Following the President’s announcement of his American Competitiveness Initiative in
2005, Congress began working on various ways to keep the U.S. competitive in the global market, with a specific focus on educating the next generation of research and technology leaders. H.R. 2272 is the first serious step Congress is taking towards achieving that goal.

On July 19, the Senate passed H.R. 2272, the 21st Century Competitiveness Act, by a voice vote after inserting the text of S. 761, the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education and Science (COMPETES) Act. The Senate passed S. 761 in April, a month before the House chose to combine various math and science proposals into one large omnibus bill (H.R. 2272). The bills will now head to conference, the first major step toward improving science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.

On Thursday, August 9, President Bush signed H.R. 2272 into law (Public Law 110-69), despite concerns that the bill “leaves some of the key priorities unfulfilled and authorizes unnecessary and duplicative programs.” The bill marks the first major step in the President’s American Competitiveness Initiative, first introduced in his 2006 State of the Union. Despite a wide margin of bipartisan support, some Republicans in Congress greeted news of the president’s signing of the bill with skepticism and misgivings.

H.R. 2272 does the following:
• Authorizes spending $33 billion over the next three years to support 25,000 new math and science teachers through professional development and graduate education assistance;
• Authorizes grants to support baccalaureate degrees in math and science with concurrent teacher certification, and establishes a public-private partnership with the business community to identify high-needs fields;
• Reauthorizes the National Science Foundation at $22 billion from fiscal 2008 to 2010, spread over several grant programs intended to encourage more students to teach math and science, as well as grants for college and graduate student science research;
• Authorizes $2.7 billion for the National Institute of Standards and Technology from fiscal 2008 through 2010, including funding for the institute’s laboratories;
• Authorizes $372 million from fiscal 2008 through 2010 to establish the Technology Innovation Program, intended to help turn cutting-edge research into commercially viable products;
• Authorizes almost $17 billion for the Energy Department from fiscal 2008 through 2010; and
• Establishes a new cutting-edge energy research agency, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy.

ED is authorized to award grants, on a competitive basis for 3 years to state educational agencies (SEAs) for the purpose of awarding subgrants to eligible local educational agencies (LEAs) to carry out teacher assistance and professional development for teachers in elementary, middle and secondary schools. SEAs must submit separate applications for grants for: 1) elementary and middle school programs (K-9) and 2) secondary school programs.

The purpose of a significant portion of grants to SEAs is to hire private contractors who possess expertise in math to provide technical assistance and professional development for math teachers in high-risk, high achievement schools. Each SEA applying for a grant must submit an application to ED that includes a process to safeguard against conflicts of interest and a State peer review process for contractors applying to provide services.

Private contractors providing services under both elementary and middle school programs and secondary school programs must be required, by contract, to screen for conflicts of interest when hiring its employees. The law also requires that any contractor subcontracting must require its subcontractor to similarly screen for conflicts of interest. The minimum requirements of the screening process include a review of the following:

• Each individual performing duties under the contract or subcontract for connections to any State’s professional development and technical assistance program under this law;
• Each individual’s potential financial interests in, or other connection to, products, activities, or services that might be purchased by an SEA or LEA in the course of the agency’s implementation of the program;
• Each individual’s connections to teaching methodologies that might require the use of specific products, activities, or services; and
• Ensuring that individuals performing duties under the contract do not maintain significant financial interests in the products, activities, or services supported under the program.

The Secretary of ED, in consultation with ED’s Office of the General Counsel, has discretion to waive the screening requirements for individual contractors and subcontractors.

Any recipient approved for an America COMPETES Act grant or contract must submit a statement to the Secretary of ED, certifying that no funds derived from the grant or contract will be made available through a subcontract or in any other manner to another person who has a financial interest or other conflict of interest in the person awarded the grant or contract, unless the conflict is previously disclosed and approved in the process of entering into a contract or awarding a grant. Within 60 days of receipt of this certification, the Secretary must make all documents received that relate to the certification available to the public. This requirement applies to all recipients of funds under the America COMPETES Act, not only those funded by ED.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) criticized the bill for authorizing new programs without the necessary funds. Under the House Pay Go rules, any new funding must be offset, either through program cuts or raising taxes. Although Congress has authorized spending for these programs, actual spending levels are determined each year through the appropriations cycle. Therefore, it is not clear how much funding these new programs will actually receive.

Despite some Republican objections, the President joined a bipartisan group of Congressmen, as well as the National Association of Manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in applauding the steps H.R. 2272 takes in helping American stay competitive in the global market. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), a cosponsor of the bill, noted that, “by increasing our investment in basic research and the teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, America is addressing the serious competitiveness challenges that it faces in today’s global economy.”

Resources:
John McArdle, “Bush Will Sign Competitiveness Bill Despite Some Misgivings,” Congress Now, August 9, 2007.
“Bush Signs Measure to Promote Competitiveness,” CQ Today, August 9, 2007.
Authors: CWP, SAS