TechNet Applauds Expansion of National Public-Private Initiative to Spur Excellence in Science and Math (STEM) Education

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- TechNet, the bipartisan policy and political network of CEOs that promotes the growth of the innovation economy, today praised President Barack Obama's announcement of a doubling of resources for a public-private effort to improve the nation's economic future by encouraging more of the nation's young people to study science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education.

Specifically, the Administration announced that its "Educate to Innovate" campaign will receive an additional $250 million from several new and innovative partnerships that will help prepare more than 10,000 new math and science teachers and train more than 100,000 existing teachers. The announcement effectively doubles the government's public-private STEM campaign which includes participation from companies such as Intel, a TechNet member company, which has committed $200 million in resources over ten years for expanded teacher training and other efforts. Intel will also offer an intensive 80-hour math course to help America's elementary school teachers develop greater expertise in STEM education.

"America's economic future is directly dependent on giving our young people the educational tools and resources they need to prepare them for the jobs of tomorrow," said Rey Ramsey, President and CEO of TechNet. "Inspiration and excitement drive exploration and discovery. Innovation is the bedrock of the American economy. If we are to continue being a global leader, our country must come together to nurture the next generation of innovators by investing in their education today. The Educate to Innovate campaign harnesses the resources of America's corporate, academic and philanthropic communities to maximize the nation's investments. It is exactly the kind of smart, pragmatic approach we need to prepare our children for tomorrow's global marketplace. Simply put, STEM education is the only way to ensure that the United States continues to lead the world in innovation and provide even greater economic opportunity for all our citizens."

More initiatives and information about the expansion of Educate to Innovate public-private initiative:

Intel's Science and Math Teachers Initiative: Intel's ten-year, $200 million cash and in-kind campaign will help provide training to more than 100,000 U.S. math and science teachers over the next three years. The 80-hour professional development math program for elementary school teachers will include new web-based instruction and collaboration tools, including targeted professional development for science teachers. This teacher training, which is currently available to teachers in four states, will be available to school districts in all 50 states at no cost to the teachers. Intel is also committing that its employees give 100,000 annual volunteer hours, with an emphasis on improving STEM education, and will maintain its support for Intel Science Search and the Intel Science Fair, which reach 600,000 students per year.

Expansion of the National Math and Science Initiative's UTeach Program: The National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) will announce, in a partnership that brings together private companies, foundations, states and federal agencies, a major expansion of the "UTeach" program that will prepare more than 4,500 undergraduates in STEM subjects to be new math and science teachers by 2015, and 7,000 by 2018 -- a commitment that promises to improve the education of more than 1 million students by 2017 and more than 20 million during the course of these new teachers' careers.

Public University Presidents Commit to Train 10,000 Math and Science Teachers Annually by 2015: The presidents of more than 75 major public universities are committing to better prepare 10,000 science and math teachers annually by 2015. This is a significant increase from the 7,500 teachers that are currently trained by the universities that participate in the Science and Mathematics Teacher Imperative, an initiative led by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities.

The PBS Innovative Educators Challenge: PBS and its 356 partner stations, in collaboration with the National Science Teachers Association, will launch a multi-year STEM initiative to dramatically expand the PBS teacher community, provide a platform for sharing effective teaching practices, and inspire the next generation of teacher-leaders. PBS will sponsor an annual competition called the "Innovative Educators Challenge" to highlight 50 outstanding teachers each year. These teachers will be provided support to be leaders in their communities, as well as have their methods of instruction collected as part of a public media repository -- the Digital Learning Library -- to create a platform for sharing of effective practice.

Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowships in Math and Science: The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation will announce a major expansion of its program, which provides future math and science teachers with a Master's degree in education and places them in difficult-to-staff middle and high school, using a model very similar to Teaching Residency Programs. With the support of the Governors in each state and more than $40 million in funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Lilly Endowment, the State of Indiana, the State of Ohio, and Ohio Foundations, this program will train 120 math and science teachers per year in Michigan and 700 over the next three years in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. These teachers will improve math and science achievement of an estimated 87,500 students every year.

About TechNet:

TechNet is the national, bipartisan network of CEOs that promotes the growth of technology industries and the economy by building long-term relationships between technology leaders and policymakers and by advocating a targeted policy agenda. Our members are the nation's drivers of innovation in the fields of information technology, e-commerce, clean technology, biotechnology, venture capital and investment banking - representing two million employees and $800 billion in revenues. TechNet has offices in Washington, D.C., Palo Alto, Sacramento, Seattle, Boston, Austin, and Albany, NY. Web address: www.technet.org. You can also follow us on Twitter at Technetupdate@twitter.

SOURCE TechNet