Five Policy Challenges for STEM Advocates James Brown, STEM Ed Coalition, April 9, 2013

The Current Policy Environment 2

The Federal Budget Outlook 3

The Most Important Political Issue in

STEM = Jobs 5

Status of ESEA Reauthorization, Year : 6

Will Immigration Reform be Next? 7

STEM Education: Perception vs. Reality 8

#1: Accountability 9

Government vs. Private Sector Investments 10 $941 billion Fed + State + Local $153 billion Federal Spending on Education $1-5 billion Private Sector Investments in STEM Education

If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it Federal: Under NCLB math and reading required, but not science. Waivers have changed the entire game. Common Core and NGSS have become “surrogates” for accountability How do we define core subjects and priorities? How do we define STEM subjects? 11

#2: 200+ Federal STEM Programs 12

What is the federal role in STEM? 200+ federal STEM Programs at 13 different agencies ~$3 billion in total Need to get most bang for the taxpayer buck 13

#3: Recruiting and Retaining Great STEM Educators 14

“Teacher Quality” and STEM STEM subjects have a rapid rate of change STEM professionals make more than STEM teachers We don’t have good indicators/systems for teacher effectiveness, which makes incentives difficult STEM Master Teachers Corps is a very hot topic 15

#4: Building the Right STEM Pipeline 16

Total Employment in STEM in 2020 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics * Subtotals do not equal 9.2 million due to rounding. Source: Jobs data are calculated from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Employment Projections , available at STEM is defined here to include non-medical occupations.

Where the STEM Jobs Will Be Projected Annual Growth of Total STEM Job Openings * STEM is defined here to include non-medical occupations. Source: Jobs data are calculated from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Employment Projections , available at

Where the STEM Jobs Will Be Degrees vs. Jobs Annually Sources: Degree data are calculated from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Science and Engineering Indicators 2012, available at Annual jobs data are calculated from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Employment Projections , available at STEM is defined here to include non- medical degrees and occupations.

Only 40% of students who enter college as STEM majors finish their degrees 20

#5: Recruiting More Champions for STEM 21

Q: “Who has been talking to you about STEM issues?” A: ????????? 22 What we ask at the end of every meeting on Capitol Hill

Thank You! 23

The STEM Education Coalition An Alliance of More than 500 Business, Professional, and Education Organizations