Now we have to spread these lessons throughout the educational system. And we have to bring more mentors into our middle schools to inspire our students to prepare for college early. We'll work hard with Congress to make sure this plan becomes a reality. I urge the Senate to take the first step by passing the proposals to modernize schools this week. In this era of fiscal discipline, we have to recognize that government alone cannot do the job.
States have to make sure that every math and science teacher is qualified to do the job.
We have to insist that they've majored in their subjects in college. Today nearly one of every five science teachers, more than a quarter of all math teachers, more than half of all physics teachers has neither majored in, nor minored in the subjects they teach. The typical elementary and middle school teacher has taken just three undergraduate math courses. We can, and we must, do better. So I call on the states to require new math and science teachers to pass high-level competency tests in their subjects before getting licensed.