Acting Gov. Paul Cellucci said the Massachusetts success story of bringing down record unemployment and raising an embarassingly low bond rating has restored fiscal stability to the state. The last thing we are doing is improving our public schools. He said he will stand firm on new state regulations that call for students to pass standardized tests before they can graduate from high school. At Friday morning's plenary session, William J. Perry, the Secretary of Defense from 1994-97, called for a return to the national emphasis on science education that preceded the Cold War. A 1997 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, he now holds the Berberian chair in engineering, operations research and international studies at Stanford University.
Overseas students are better prepared in science and math.
Science education should be our highest national priority. He pointed out while America currently leads the pack in information technology and the aersopace industry, American industry was not always the envy of the world. They stayed and trained a new generation. Then, with the advent of the Cold War, the desire to offset Soviet ground forces with high-tech weaponry led to an emphasis on defense technology that continued through Desert Storm. This technology in turn spawned a new set of products for home and industry.