Sec. 201. Findings; sense of Congress
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Congress finds the following: According to the National Science Board’s Science and Engineering Indicators, the science and engineering workforce has shown sustained growth for more than half a century, and workers with science and engineering degrees tend to earn more than comparable workers in other fields. According to the Program for International Student Assessment 2012 results, America lags behind many other nations in STEM education. American students rank 21st in science and 26th in mathematics.
Junior Achievement USA and ING recently found a decrease of 25 percent in the percentage of teenage students interested in STEM careers. According to a 2007 report from the Department of Labor, industries and firms dependent on a strong science and mathematics workforce have launched a variety of programs that target K–12 students and undergraduate and graduate students in STEM fields. The Federal Government spends nearly $3 billion annually on STEM education related program and activities, but encouraging STEM education activities beyond the scope of the Federal Government, including privately sponsored competitions and programs in our schools, is crucial to the future technical and economic competitiveness of the United States.
It is the sense of Congress that— more effective coordination and adoption of performance measurement based on objective outcomes for federally supported STEM programs is needed; leveraging private and nonprofit investments in STEM education will be essential to strengthening the Federal STEM portfolio; strengthening the Federal STEM portfolio may require program consolidations and terminations, but such changes should be based on evidence with stakeholder input; the President’s fiscal year 2014 budget proposal did not adequately explain proposed program consolidations and terminations in the Federal STEM portfolio, nor did it elicit stakeholder input and outside expertise, resulting in the need for Congress to limit the Administration’s implementation of that proposal; and coordinating STEM programs and activities across the Federal Government in order to limit duplication and engage stakeholders in STEM programs and related activities for which objective outcomes can be measured will bolster results of Federal STEM education programs, improve the return on taxpayers’ investments in STEM education programs, and in turn strengthen the United States economy.