RTTT; Honoring Rep. Vernon Ehlers; Obama Education Policy speech to Natl Urban League; Senate Approps Cmte Moves Ed Funding Bill

Feb 20

Greetings STEM Education Coalition members

A very busy week for STEM and STEM education related news and information. For your review this lovely Friday afternoon:

1. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced on July 27 that 19 finalists, 18 states and the District of Columbia, have qualified for the second round of the Race to the Top competition for a share of $3.4 billion in education grants. The finalists are: Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina. Duncan made the announcement during a major education reform speech at the National Press Club. The finalists will present plans during the week of August 9 in Washington. The awards will be made in September to 10 to 15 contenders.

http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/quiet-revolution-secretary-arne-duncans-remarks-national-press-club

2. Also this week, the science and education communities hosted a reception (see attached pdf) to celebrate Representative Vernon Ehlers’ congressional career. Rep. Ehlers, who is retiring at the end of the Congressional session, served 16 years in the House and has been a key advocate for the sciences, research, and science education. More than 280 people, including many members of Congress, honored Rep. Ehlers for his contributions.

http://picasaweb.google.com/114137795829558836649/EhlersRetirementReception#

3. President Obama and Secretary Duncan addressed the attendees of the National Urban League’s Centennial Conference this week, where they each emphasized the administration’s continued push to move the education reform agenda forward. They focused on the benefits for minority students in the reform of our nation’s schools and the importance of accountability.

Duncan: http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/secretary-arne-duncans-remarks-national-urban-league-centennial-conference

Obama: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-education-reform-national-urban-league-centennial-conference

http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/duncan-highlights-education-departments-civil-rights-agenda

4. On July 29 the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the 2011 Labor HHS Education appropriations bill.
http://appropriations.senate.gov/news.cfm?method=news.view&id=b49e1236-4b7b-4bc7-b27d-358ab97e3f45

AND FINALLY, we are updating and soon will be unveiling the new and improved STEM Education Coalition website. If you would like your organization to be added to the list of STEM Ed Coalition members (www.stemedcoalition.org) currently on the front page, please send an email to Robert Dreyer (robert.dreyer@nsta.org) with the full name of your organization and how you would like it to be listed on the website.

Thanks

James and Jodi

James Brown

Co-Chair, STEM Education Coalition

Assistant Director, Advocacy

American Chemical Society

Office of Legislative Affairs

(202) 872-6229 (office)

(202) 872-6206 (fax)

j_brown@acs.org

www.acs.org/policy

www.stemedcoalition.org