Congress passes America Competes Act, authorizing $22 billion for science education and research

[ProSense]

WASHINGTON D.C. – Senator John Kerry said today that legislation passed by the Congress last night, which he helped draft during a Senate and House conference, will spur innovation and greatly enhance America’s global competitiveness. The bill authorizes a total of $22 billion over the next three years for the National Science Foundation and increases funding for several science and technology agencies such as the National Institute of Science and Technology. It expands grants and educational opportunities for students and teachers of math, science and engineering – from grade school to graduate school. The additional funds and new programs will provide additional opportunities for universities in Massachusetts, many of which already sit on the cutting edge of innovation and progress.

“This legislation will help spark innovation in an economy that relies of innovation,” Kerry said today. “The best thing about this bill is that it will foster creativity among our researchers, scientists and teachers. This sort of support is sorely needed because American kids are falling behind when it comes to math and science education. One study ranked U.S. high school seniors below their counterparts in 17 other countries in math and science literacy. This is not only selling our kids short, it’s selling the future of our economy short. We know that only by encouraging that type of innovative thinking can we continue to compete on the global stage.”

Below is a summary of the legislation:

SUMMARY OF THE “AMERICA COMPETES ACT”

The “America COMPETES Act” is a bipartisan legislative response to recommendations contained in the National Academies’ “Rising Above the Gathering Storm” report and the Council on Competitiveness’ “Innovate America” report. The bill is similar to the “National Competitiveness Investment Act” that Senators Frist, Reid, Stevens, Inouye, Domenici, Bingaman, Enzi, Kennedy, Ensign, Lieberman, Alexander, Mikulski, Hutchison, and others introduced in September 2006. Several sections of the bill are derived from proposals contained in the “American Innovation and Competitiveness Act of 2006” (S.2802), approved without opposition by the Senate Commerce Committee, and the “Protecting America’s Competitive Edge Through Energy Act of 2006” (S.2197) approved without opposition by the Senate Energy Committee last year. Accordingly, the America COMPETES Act focuses on three primary areas of importance to maintaining and improving United States’ innovation in the 21st Century: (1) increasing research investment, (2) strengthening educational opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics from elementary through graduate school, and (3) developing an innovation infrastructure.

More specifically, the America COMPETES Act would:

Increase Research Investment by:

• Doubling funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF) from approximately $5.6 billion in Fiscal Year 2006 to $11.2 billion in Fiscal Year 2011.

• Setting the Department of Energy’s Office of Science on track to double in funding over ten years, increasing from $3.6 billion in Fiscal Year 2006 to over $5.2 billion in Fiscal Year 2011.

• Establishing the Innovation Acceleration Research Program to direct federal agencies funding research in science and technology to set as a goal dedicating approximately 8% of their Research and Development (R&D) budgets toward high-risk frontier research.

• Authorizing the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) from approximately $703 million in Fiscal Year 2008 to approximately $937 million in Fiscal Year 2011 and requiring NIST to set aside no less than 8 percent of its annual funding for high-risk, high-reward innovation acceleration research.

• Directing NASA to increase funding for basic research and fully participate in interagency activities to foster competitiveness and innovation, using the full extent of existing budget authority.

• Coordinating ocean and atmospheric research and education at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other agencies to promote U.S. leadership in these important fields.

Strengthen Educational Opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Critical Foreign Languages by:

• Authorizing competitive grants to States to promote better alignment of elementary and secondary education with the knowledge and skills needed for success in postsecondary education, the 21st century workforce, and the Armed Forces, and grants to support the establishment or improvement of statewide P-16 education longitudinal data systems.

• Strengthening the skills of thousands of math and science teachers by establishing training and education programs at summer institutes hosted at the National Laboratories and by increasing support for the Teacher Institutes for the 21st Century program at NSF.

• Expanding the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program at NSF to recruit and train individuals to become math and science teachers in high- need local educational agencies.

• Assisting States in establishing or expanding statewide specialty schools in math and science that students from across the state would be eligible to attend and providing expert assistance in teaching from National Laboratories’ staff at those schools.

• Facilitating the expansion of Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) programs by increasing the number of teachers prepared to teach AP/IB and pre-AP/IB math, science, and foreign language courses in high need schools, thereby increasing the number of courses available and students who take and pass AP and IB exams.

• Developing and implementing programs for bachelor’s degrees in math, science, engineering, and critical foreign languages with concurrent teaching credentials and part-time master’s in education programs for math, science, and critical foreign language teachers to enhance both content knowledge and teaching skills.

• Creating partnerships between National Laboratories and local high-need high schools to establish centers of excellence in math and science education.

• Expanding existing NSF graduate research fellowship and traineeship programs, requiring NSF to work with institutions of higher education to facilitate the development of professional science master’s degree programs, and expanding NSF’s science, mathematics, engineering and technology talent program.

• Providing Math Now grants to improve math instruction in the elementary and middle grades and provide targeted help to struggling students so that all students can master grade-level mathematics standards.

• Expanding programs to increase the number of students from elementary school through postsecondary education who study critical foreign languages and become proficient.

Develop an Innovation Infrastructure by:

• Establishing a President’s Council on Innovation and Competitiveness to develop a comprehensive agenda to promote innovation and competitiveness in the public and private sectors.

• Requiring the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study to identify forms of risk that create barriers to innovation.

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[aquart]

1. Right. Meanwhile university researchers are sending out resumes

Because their programs have been cut.

[ProSense]

2. Did I miss something? n/t

[Bill McBlueState]

3. this all sounds great BUT

I wish science funding didn't always have to be framed in the language of "competitiveness," an ugly word if ever there was one.

Scientific research, both basic and applied, is often for the betterment of everyone, not just Americans. Making it all about "America COMPETES" obscures the point that if we want the planet to be habitable in the long run, we have to get beyond international rivalry and instead think about international cooperation.

[Elspeth]

4. Not uniform education support. "Specialty schools"

"• Assisting States in establishing or expanding statewide specialty schools in math and science that students from across the state would be eligible to attend and providing expert assistance in teaching from National Laboratories’ staff at those schools."

This means special science magnets. This means syphoning off high performing kids and teachers into special (expensive) schools while the rank and file public schools still have to fight for basic supplies.

And note how much goes to government ages and not to children.

[ProSense]

5. "And note how much goes to government ages and not to children."

I think this is pretty clear:

The bill authorizes a total of $22 billion over the next three years for the National Science Foundation and increases funding for several science and technology agencies such as the National Institute of Science and Technology. It expands grants and educational opportunities for students and teachers of math, science and engineering – from grade school to graduate school. The additional funds and new programs will provide additional opportunities for universities in Massachusetts, many of which already sit on the cutting edge of innovation and progress.

[Bill McBlueState]

6. well, it's education *and* research

It's those government agencies like the NSF that fund research. Increasingly, the NSF is funding interaction between researchers and K-12 students, which we could only use more of.