White House Increases Funding for Math and Science Education

WASHINGTON, January 8, 2010 –President Obama on Wednesday expanded upon his “Educate to Innovate” campaign and announced an increase in funding for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education.

“Our future is on the line. The nation that out-educates us today is going to out-compete us tomorrow,” Obama said at a ceremony in the East Room of the White House.

The President’s announcement is part of a larger campaign spearheaded by the Obama Administration which is intended to boost the lackluster performance of American students in the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, the administration said.

The details of the President’s announcement include the expansion of five major public-private partnerships that will train more than 10,000 new math and science teachers over the next five years and support the professional development of more than 100,000 current teachers in STEM fields. These partnerships include:

• Intel’s Science and Math Teachers Initiative
• The National Math and Science Initiative’s UTeach Program
• Pledge to Public University Presidents to Train 10,000 Math and Science Teachers Annually by 2015
• The PBS Innovative Educators Challenge
• Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowships in Math and Science

This increase of over $250 million in funding and in-kind contributions represents a near-doubling of the “Educate to Innovate” campaign since it was founded in November of 2009.

The President also announced a multi-year “Summer of Innovation” program led by NASA. The program will consist NASA scientists and engineers working with thousands of teachers and students on STEM mentoring opportunities.

“The quality of math and science teachers is the most important single factor influencing whether students will succeed or fail in science, technology, engineering and math,” President Obama said.

“Passionate educators can make all the difference, enabling hands-on learning that truly engages students … and prepares them to tackle the grand challenges of the 21st century.”