On the recordMay 13, 2010
Madam Chair, I thank my friend Mr. Kratovil from Maryland for his leadership, and I thank the chairman and the ranking member of the committee for their leadership on this important topic of STEM education. My 14 years in local government, helping to manage the 12th-largest school district in the United States and home to the number one high school in the United States 3 years in a row, a STEM high school, Thomas Jefferson, has taught me how important mathematics, science, engineering, and technology are for the future of our country, for competitiveness, American competitiveness. In a recent international assessment of 15-year-old students, the United States ranked 28th in math literacy and 24th in science literacy. We can and must do better, and this amendment, I think, will move us a long way toward that goal so that every community in America will have this opportunity, and our children will have a bright future in the sciences, in math, in technology, and in engineering.
