House Committee on Education and the Workplace: STEM Education
The House Committee on Education and the Workplace submitted its “Budget Views and Estimates for Fiscal Year 2014” to the House Budget Committee. Similar to the document prepared by the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, this report provides insight into the approach that the committee may take in coming months.
The document is 17 pages long; the section on STEM education follows:
“Supporting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Education Programs Responsibly
A January 2012 GAO [General Accountability Office] report found that in FY 2010, 13 federal agencies invested more than $3 billion in 209 programs designed to increase knowledge of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields and attainment of STEM degrees. In addition, 83 percent of the programs overlapped to some degree with at least one other program. Less than half of the programs surveyed indicated they coordinated with other agencies. GAO stated that opportunities exist to enhance coordination, align government-wide efforts, and improve efficient use of limited resources by identifying opportunities for program consolidation and reducing administrative costs.
“A robust education and training system with a more coordinated focus on increasing the number of elementary and secondary students and college graduates interested and employed in the STEM fields is essential to the nation’s future economic competitiveness and a necessary pipeline into high-demand fields. Because of this, the committee urges the Committee on the Budget to examine ways to eliminate and consolidate STEM programs across Congressional committees to better coordinate federal efforts to educate and train students for the jobs of the future.”
