private lenders and pass savings along to students via lower-interest college loans. He also created the $10,000 tax credit, he seeks to increase Pell Grants and other student aid, create incentives for schools to lower tuition, and increase funding for work-study jobs. 13. Recruiting and preparing 100,000 math and science teachers. Like most economics and labor experts, Obama believes our economic future lies in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields. To make us more competitive with technology powerhouse nations like Germany and China, the President wants to fund the recruiting, training, and hiring of 100,000 more math and science teachers at all levels of education. Obama would also fund a STEM Master Teacher Corps that would research and innovate best practices for teaching math and science. Hopefully, Obama and his supporters can find a way to sneak this past Representative Paul Broun (R-MD) and his many God-fearing colleagues, who fiercely oppose math and science. 14. Strengthen public schools in every community. This vague directive calls for smaller class sizes, as well as encouraging schools to find alternatives to No Child Left Behind 's "teach to the test" mandate so they can "craft local solutions." Alas, America's emphasis on "local solutions" for K-12 education may be our greatest obstacle to the goal of universal, high-quality education for all children. I don't mean to dump on President Obama, it's just that schools are definitely where the rubber hits the road in America's perennial debate over individual rights vs. collective responsibilities.