Date: 1999-04-20
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. it is a pleasure to lead the Houses special order on mathematics and science education. Mr. Speaker. it is difficult to imagine a successful enterprise during the 20th century that has not involved proficiency in math and science. Skilled mathematicians and scientists have led the way in smashing the atom. discovering vaccines and cures for diseases. landing astronauts on the moon and developing the Internet. In fact. a notable author has heralded the last 100 years as the American Century. It is no exaggeration to say that mathematics and science provided the bricks and mortar that helped the U.S. construct its prominence on the world stage as a leader in the global economy and its sole status as superpower. Mr. Speaker. if the U.S. is to maintain its status as a world leader. it is necessary to fundamentally change how America looks at education and specifically mathematics and science education. The House Democrats have joined with President Clinton to improve education. We .recognize that a highquality education will ensure that todays students will become the skilled employees and business leaders of tomorrow. The Democrats have strongly supported measures to reduce class size. to repair outdated school facilities. to construct new schools and to ensure that public schools are safe places for our children to learn. These are important initiatives. We believe that it is in the national interest that improvements are made not only in our countrys school architecture. but also in how we teach our students mathematics and science in kindergarten through the 12th grade. Toward this end. we believe that greater emphasis needs to be placed on the training and recruitment of mathematics and science teachers. We need to make changes in mathematics and science curricula to give some students more access to computers. We can make improvements to study math and science in greater detail rather than focusing on just the basics. Today I would like to highlight some of the problems that exist when it comes to mathematics and science education. We will examine how these educational shortcomings adversely affect the recruitment of employees to businesses. particularly in the field of information technology and other informationbased fields. When it comes to mathematics and science education in the U.S.. students need practice and more practice. Compared to their international peers. American students ranked near the bottom in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study that was released last year and in 1996. Results at the third and fourth grade levels showed that Korea was the topperforming country in science. Japan was second. and the U.S. and Austria shared the third position. In mathematics. Singapore. Korea. Japan and Hong Kong were the top. while American students came in in 12th place. For 12th graders. U.S. students ranked 16th in their knowledge of science and 19th in their knowledge of mathematics among the 21 competing countries. That is unsatisfactory. These findings underscore that U.S. students do not share the same proficiency in mathematics and science that their overseas peers have. Since these students will comprise tomorrows work force. they will have a direct impact on our countrys ability to compete in the global economy. There are many of us in the House who believe that the President and Congress need to embrace public policies to improve mathematics and science education. As the Subcommittee on Basic Researchs ranking member. I have had several discussions with representatives of the information technology community. These business people have expressed their frustration in not being able to find qualified job applicants. In fact. one chief executive officer testified last month that in his company he had received 630 resumes in the first 6 months of its startup. and of those considered qualified. none were American born. One out of 10 jobs in information technology is currently unfilled according to the Information Technology Association of America. One in three job applicants tested by U.S. companies lacks the reading and mathematics skills for the job as reported by the American Management Association. These statistics reveal that there is a direct relationship between proficiency in math and science as a student and ones ability to be a successful employee in the evolving informationbased workplace. American Airlines. for example. is a major employer in my congressional district. This company has written me to express its interest in having a highlytrained workforce. "Dear Representative JOHNSON: American Airlines. for instance. relies heavily on complex computer systems in order to plan and coordinate 2.200 flights. track over 300.000 pieces of baggage moving through our system and manage 343.000 reservation calls each day. Approximately twothirds of American Airlines 125.000 employees use computers on a daily basis. and our pilots. yield management specialists. and flight operation personnel depend on advanced math and computer skills in the routine performance of their jobs." Some schools have already recognized the importance of promoting mathematics and science education. They have implemented programs that are developing our students skills in math and science. These institutions ought to be commended for their efforts and encouraged to push the envelope when it comes to math and science instruction. The Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Magnet Center located in Dallas in the low income area of my district is one school that provides cutting edge instructions of mathematics and science through its School of Science and Engineering. In addition to the Science and Engineering School. the Townview campus has schools of business and management. education and social services. government and law. health professions. and talented and gifted. The Townview campus. particularly in the Science and Engineering School. has many of the features that other American schools need to help other students compete in the 21st centurys workforce. These components include small classroom size. the latest in computer technology. job site based internships that are related to the curriculum. independent learning. and a highly trained teaching staff. Townview students participate regularly in academic and technological competitions. They have even built voiceactivated robots. I salute Townview students and its faculty. One component of the Townview experience sheds some light on one way that schools can improve education opportunities for children. That is through the development of partnerships between schools and the businesses in their community. Businesses can work with schools in their communities to do such things as donate computer equipment. set up job site internships for students. as well as the establishment of college scholarships for promising math and science students. Last month. I introduced the Math and Science Proficiency Partnership Act. H.R. 1265. to improve mathematics and science education for students kindergarten through the 12th grade. as well as to increase training for math and science teachers. The purpose of H.R. 1265 is to encourage partnerships between schools and businesses in their communities. to improve lower test scores by students and to enrich the applicant pool for high technology firms in other fields dependent upon engineering and math. My area is prolific in its need for this skill and it will grow as we move into the 21st century. Schools in urban and rural areas do not always have the resources that other schools have. Schools and the businesses located in their communities are strategically poised to partner with each other. My bill authorizes the National Science Foundation to award 10 partnership grants through its urban and rural systemic initiative programs. The National Science Foundation director will make five grants to urban areas and five grants to rural areas. Each grant will not exceed $300.000 and the total amount authorized is only $3 million. a small amount for the need that this entire Nation needs for its workforce for the future. The purpose of the partnership grants is to assist in training of math and science teachers and to further education opportunities for science and math students. The grants will be awarded to schools that have successfully established partnerships to accomplish the abovementioned .teacher training and educational opportunities for mathematics and science students. Eligibility of the grants will be based on how well the participating schools and businesses have forged their partnerships. Ways that schools can participate include sponsoring advanced and innovative training for math and science teachers. Ways that businesses can participate in the partnership .include setting up college scholarship programs for promising math and science students. establishing mentoring and internship programs at the companys job site. as well as donation of computer hardware and software to participating schools. The legislation directs the National Science Foundation director to conduct a longrange study on the students who have participated in the partnership program and their ability to land and to retain jobs in math and science and information technology. I urge my colleagues to cosponsor this bill but. moreover. I continue to urge the entire Congress to look at these areas because it impacts directly on our economy in this global society. The ability of students to be skilled in mathematics and science education is directly linked to whether the U.S. and its companies will be successful in the 21st century. That is why schools and businesses need to increase their -efforts to establish these partnerships now. so that todays students can take their places in the skilled information workforce tomorrow. Mr. Speaker. I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. LAMPSON.