Vernon Ehlers: “I have rushed down to the floor to support this amendment, and a little history is helpful at this point. When No Child…”

“I have rushed down to the floor to support this amendment, and a little history is helpful at this point. When No Child Left Behind was written, it removed Eisenhower funding from the program. We had been putting in over $400 million per year for Eisenhower funding, most of which went to math and science education. I had written a formula into the bill as it left the House which put Math-Science Education in great shape and maintained roughly the same funding that the Eisenhower program had. However, the Senate removed that provision, and ever since then we have been funding math and science education at considerably lower figures than we did before No Child Left Behind was written. In this particular bill, the Department of Education has received a substantial boost, No Child Left Behind has received a substantial boost, but the funding for math and science education has remained level, and that just doesn't make sense. We know from the statistics and the measurements, and the international tests that have been made, that our students are not able to compete with students from other countries at the 12th grade high school level. We are far behind, and we have made a valiant effort in this body to improve that situation. I have started the STEM, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, Education Caucus. Well over 100 Members of Congress have joined us because they support the need for improving math and science education.”