The committee has prepared a report that is important for all scientists to read (3). Its findings echo those of studies I have described in previous editorials (4). The committee concludes that “scientific and technical building blocks of our economic leadership are eroding at a time when many other nations are gathering strength” and suggests that the U.S. must compete by “optimizing its knowledge-based resources, particularly in science and technology, and by sustaining the most fertile environment for new and revitalized industries and the well-paying jobs they bring”. The committee provides four recommendations:

• Vastly improve K–12 science and mathematics education in the U.S.
• Sustain and strengthen the U.S. commitment to long-term basic research.
• Make the U.S. the most attractive setting in the world in which to study and do research.
• Ensure that the U.S. is the premier place in the world to innovate.

Following each of these recommendations are several implementation actions that lay out in more detail how the committee proposes to achieve each goal.

Implementation actions that specifically address the education system involve recruiting students to careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and to careers in teaching these subjects, by providing undergraduate scholarships, summer institutes and other teacher training programs, graduate fellowships, and employer-supported continuing education. A major proposal is to recruit 10,000 new science and mathematics teachers to the K–12 ranks annually by awarding four-year scholarships that would entail a commitment of five years service in public K–12 education. Another goal is to strengthen the skills of 250,000 in-service teachers through summer institutes, Master’s degree programs, and special training for advanced-placement or international baccalaureate programs. To support teachers, the committee recommends convening a national panel to collect, evaluate, and develop K–12 curriculum materials of the highest quality and to providing these free of charge as a voluntary national curriculum. To increase the number of undergraduate and graduate degrees in science, engineering, and mathematics the committee proposes creating 25,000 new four-year competitive undergraduate scholarships for U.S. citizens in U.S. institutions and 5000 new graduate fellowships that would provide U.S. graduate students with direct funding that could be used at any institution.

The committee was asked to recommend only actions that could be taken by the federal government, but it is certainly aware that action is needed at all levels of society. Training 10,000 highly qualified new teachers will do little good if state requirements prevent them from reaching classrooms or school boards are unwilling to pay competitive salaries to new or already active teachers with special expertise. Perhaps the most important aspect of this report is not the specific implementation actions recommended but rather its clear delineation of the problems the U.S. will face in the absence of action.

It is crucial that we as individuals and as a country rise to the challenge of globalization with renewed investment in the future through education, research, and innovation. If we rest on our laurels, a rapidly changing world is likely to pass us by and young people in the U.S. may face poorer prospects than their elders enjoyed. Let us resolve, as the National Academies committee has, to convince policymakers to support science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education commensurate with their importance to the future of this country.

Literature Cited

1. The National Academies (accessed Nov 2005).
2. See the Web site of the National Academies’ committee (accessed Nov 2005). J. Chem. Educ. 2004, 81, 1079.
3. National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine of The National Academies. Rising above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future; National Academies Press: Washington, DC, 2005; (accessed Nov 2005).
4. Moore, J. W. J. Chem. Educ. 2004, 81, 1079; J. Chem. Educ. 2005, 82, 807.