Bay Area Council Co-Sponsors Federal STEM Education Innovation Act
The Bay Area Council, along with Intel, Agilent, and Synopsys co-sponsored a bill introduced today by Congressman Mike Honda that would help develop a comprehensive strategy for science, technology engineering and math (STEM) education in the United States. H.R. 3373, the STEM Education Innovation Act, would create a national STEM office within the U.S. Department of Education and provide support to state-level STEM consortia to help develop best practices and strategies to increase participation of underrepresented populations in STEM disciplines. Additionally, the bill would establish the Education Innovation Project, which would provide grant funding to develop innovative education technologies – a key component to implementing a successful STEM strategy nationwide.
While the country faces a 9% unemployment rate, many STEM-related jobs go unfilled due to a lack of qualified candidates. The STEM Education Innovation Act would provide a systemic approach to improving education in the STEM disciplines and to training an American workforce that will be globally competitive in the 21st century economy. You can read more about the bill here.
