Science/Math Teaching the Focus of Congress, Administration Actions

In the House, the appropriations bill that would fund education programs has been delayed, but an authorization bill to consolidate programs for teacher professional development, hiring, and retention was approved. The House Labor-HHS- Education Appropriations Subcommittee was scheduled to mark up its spending bill on July 21, but Republican leaders canceled the mark-up because they have not yet found a way around the constraints of the budget caps. The Labor-HHS allocation for FY 2000 is $12 billion less than what programs funded by the bill received for FY 1999. The previous day, the House passed H.R. 1995, the Teacher Empowerment Act (see FYIs #95 , 108 ) to authorize consolidation of a number of teacher-assistance programs. Also on July 20, Secretary of Education Richard Riley announced formation of a National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century.

The Teacher Empowerment Act passed the House by a vote of 239- 185. Twenty-four Democrats voted for the bill, including Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ). Other congressional Democrats and President Clinton, however, oppose it because it would incorporate Clinton’s proposal for more teachers and smaller classes into state block grants along with several other teacher quality programs. As reported in previous FYIs, although the bill lets states choose how they wish to use the authorized funds for training, hiring, and retention of teachers, it requires states to continue providing the level of funding they currently allocate for teacher professional development in science and mathematics. Rep. Holt, a physicist, was responsible for getting this provision in the bill, with support from the other physicist in Congress, Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-MI); both are members of the House Education and the Workforce Committee. The bill allows local education agencies to ask the states to waive this provision, but only after they meet certain conditions, including demonstrating that their teachers’ math and science training needs are being met satisfactorily.

According to Holt, “This bill maintains funding that was previously provided under the Eisenhower Professional Development Program for math and science teacher training. It also says that if school districts want to use the math and science money for other uses, they must ensure that the training needs of all of their math and science teachers, including elementary school teachers, are met.”

Clinton wants his teacher hiring program to remain separate from the block-granted programs, and has threatened to veto the legislation if it comes to him in this form. No comparable legislation has been introduced in the Senate at this time, and reports indicate that Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman James Jeffords (R-VT) plans to incorporate authorization of teacher programs with other Department of Education programs in a single Elementary and Secondary Education bill.

The same day that the House passed H.R. 1995, the establishment of a National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching was announced by Education Secretary Riley. Former Senator and astronaut John Glenn will chair the commission, made up of government, university, industry and school officials, teachers and parents. Over the next year, the commission will explore ways to support and improve the teaching of K-12 science and math, and submit its recommendations to Riley in the fall of 2000. The 24 members of the commission include Senators Jeffords and Edward Kennedy (D-MA), and Reps. Holt and Connie Morella (R- MD). They will be seeking public comment and input. According to a Department of Education press release, “Individuals or groups may contribute ideas by calling, writing, or participating in an on-line discussion forum that will be widely publicized.... For more information, please visit our web site at www.ed.gov/inits/Math or call 1-877-220-9684.”