Influencing Legislation: Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship

AIP convenes the Physical Science Education Policy Coalition (PSEPC) in response to our Member Societies, who have a common interest to improve physical science education. The coalition aims to achieve public policy that will provide all students access to high-quality physical sciences education and providing educators with the necessary and critical resources needed so they can support their students. The coalition has provided input on federal legislation such as the America COMPETES Act, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Career and Technical Education Act, and the Higher Education Act. 

PSEPC successfully restored the proposed elimination of funding for the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship program. The President's budget request proposed to eliminate this program. We organized former Einstein fellows to write their current Senators and then we did in-person follow-up meetings with these offices. We advocated for report language in appropriation legislation to restore the funding. The report language specifically states to fund the program at the same level it’s been many years, at $1,200,000.