The themes of competitiveness, innovation and the need for strong education
in science and mathematics run through the Administration's FY 2007
budget request to Congress. Within the Department of Education budget
request, some new and some existing programs have been pulled together
into a $380 million "Preparing America's Students for Global Competition"
program, with a major focus on mathematics, as part of the President's
American Competitiveness Initiative. Meanwhile, the Education Department's
Mathematics and Science Partnership program to improve science and math
education would receive flat funding at its FY 2006 level.
At NSF, total funding for the Education and Human Resources Directorate
would grow slightly under the FY 2007 request. Several changes would
be made to division titles and content, with some divisions being combined.
Funding for NSF's Math and Science Partnership program would be reduced,
with no money provided for new awards, and would be incorporated into
the Undergraduate Education Division.
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
The FY 2007 budget request for the Department of Education "will
enable us to continue to deliver results for all children under ‘No
Child Left Behind,' and it tackles our vital priority to improve our
global competitiveness by targeting achievement in math and science,"
said Education Secretary Margaret Spellings in a departmental press
release. She stated that "cementing our status as a world leader
in innovation requires stronger, earlier math and science instruction,
rigorous coursework throughout a student's career and particularly in
the crucial stage of high school, and the understanding of the world
that starts with mastering a foreign language."
MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE PARTNERSHIPS: The request would
provide flat funding at $182.2 million. Education Department budget
documents state that this program "provides State formula grants
to help States and localities improve students' academic achievement
in mathematics and science. The program promotes strong teaching skills
for elementary and secondary school teachers, including integrating
teaching methods based on scientifically based research and technology
into the curriculum. Partnerships focus on developing rigorous mathematics
and science curricula, distance learning programs, and incentives to
recruit college graduates with degrees in math and science into the
teaching profession." Additional state grants for improving teacher
quality in all fields would also receive flat funding, at $2,887.4 million.
PREPARING AMERICA'S STUDENTS FOR GLOBAL COMPETITION:
$380.0 million was requested for this program which would focus primarily
on improving teaching and learning in mathematics, in support of the
President's American Competitiveness Initiative. The components of this
effort are as follows:
$125 million for the "Math Now for Elementary School Students"
program; $125 million for a new "Math Now for Middle School Students"
program; $10 million for "a National Mathematics Panel to identify
key mathematics content and instructional principles;" $5 million
for a program to evaluate and coordinate federal math and science education
programs; an increase of $90 million to "Advanced Placement to
train 70,000 additional teachers for math, science and foreign language
AP-IB courses" and increase successful student participation; and
$25 million "for the Adjunct Teacher Corps to encourage qualified
professionals to teach high school courses with an emphasis on math
and science."
More detailed information on the Education Department's FY 2007 request
can be found at http://www.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/budget07/index.html.
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
NSF's Education and Human Resources (EHR) Directorate would experience
an overall increase of 2.5% or $19.6 million, to $816.2 million, under
the FY 2007 EHR request. The request cites a number of program changes
within EHR. The Elementary, Secondary and Informal Education division
and the Research, Evaluation and Communication division would be combined
into a single "Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings"
division, with total funding for the combined programs declining slightly.
The NSF Math and Science Partnerships would be cut by 27.2% or $17.2
million, to $46.0 million, with no support for new awards, and would
be incorporated into the Undergraduate Education division. Human Resources
Development would see the largest budget increase of the divisions.
Brief highlights of the EHR request follow. For more details on the
EHR request and the program changes, go to the NSF budget web site at
http://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2007/toc.jsp
and scroll down under "Directorate Summaries" to Education
and Human Resources.
RESEARCH ON LEARNING IN FORMAL AND INFORMAL SETTINGS:
Down 0.1% or $0.2 million, to $215.0 million.
UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION: Down 7.0% or $14.9 million,
to $196.8 million.
GRADUATE EDUCATION: Up 4.9% or $7.6 million, to $160.6
million.
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT: Up 21.8% or $25.8 million,
to $143.9 million.
EPSCoR: Up 1.3% or $1.3 million, to $100.0 million.
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