Senate ESEA Push Yields Huge Victory for STEM Education

May 9

April 21, 2015

Last week the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee unanimously approved the Every Child Achieves Act, a bill that would comprehensively overhaul the No Child Left Behind Act, which has been in place since 2002. The original version of the bill considered by the Committee would have completely eliminated the Math and Science Partnerships Program at the Department of Education, consolidating this widely supported program into a larger state block grant proposal.

Thanks to the leadership of Senator Al Franken (D-MN), Mark Kirk (R-IL), and Patty Murray (D-WA), an amendment was adopted by the Committee in a vote of 12-10 to include a dedicated STEM K-12 program in the final bill, ensuring that states would continue to receive dedicated support for STEM activities from the U.S. Department of Education. The Math and Science Partnerships program is funded at more than $150 million annually and the eventual Senate bill will likely expand upon this funding level. This amendment would have not been successful without the broad and vocal support of the STEM education community. More than one hundred organizations from across the country joined in the effort and we have posted letters, video clips, and other materials related to this amendment below to share. If you have any additional materials you would like us to post, please send them to jfbrown@stemedcoalition.org.

Watch the video of Senate HELP Committee debate on the Franken-Kirk-Murray STEM Amendment:

See Letters of Support:

90+ Organizations Support Coalition Letter on Title II STEM Amendment

National Science Teachers Association/National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

Microsoft Corporation

National Center for Technological Literacy

Tennessee Junior Academy of Science

National Education Association

Washington STEM

See Further Details on the Title II STEM Amendment

Franken-Kirk-Murray Amendment

Fact Sheet – Title II STEM Amendment