Friday, August 22, 2008

How I See It

Pipeline veto should rally tech leaders on education

Nearly lost in the frenzy at the close of the Massachusetts legislative session was the veto of $4.3 million for the STEM Pipeline Fund. The fund, established in 2004, works to connect employers, universities and the K-12 education system to grow the state’s science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) pool of workers.

While the House overrode the governor’s veto, the Senate did not address it before the end of formal session July 31. Unless legislative leaders convene a rare summer session to address other fiscal issues, the fund will be without new resources for the current year. The fund had planned a new round of funding for the fall, which is now in jeopardy.

As a recent Mass High Tech editorial properly noted, a restoration of the funds would “send the message that science education in the schools remains a priority.” But if this truly spells the demise of the STEM Pipeline Fund, this should not end of the discussion over STEM education in Massachusetts. Now more than ever, the state needs to make STEM education a top priority of its education reform.

Last month, Gov. Deval Patrick released his long-awaited Readiness Project, which outlines his vision for reforming the education continuum. While math and science education received its share of focus in the document, technology stakeholders need to come to the table with a common STEM agenda.

Virtually any meeting between technology CEOs and policy-makers evolves into a spirited discussion on STEM education. In June, the governor convened a meeting of defense leaders at Lincoln Labs to discuss efforts to bring the Air Force Cyber Command (AFCYBER) headquarters to Hanscom Air Force Base. While AFCYBER was the main topic of the meeting, the executives in the room were eager to convey to the governor the need for more skilled workers who are needed to develop the next generation of defense technology.

Working closely with employers and educators, the state should adopt a dual strategy for building up the STEM worker pipeline:

• Scale up and support employer best practices. Many tech firms invest in programs designed to improve STEM education. Some are effective, but others could be developed to benefit from better coordination with universities and the state education infrastructure.

• Support STEM teachers. The most critical element of creating the next generation of tech workers is ensuring that we have the best-trained, best-supported math and science teachers in the classroom. This means providing higher salaries for hard-to-fill subject areas as well as creating rewarding career pathways and relevant professional development for teachers.

The growing sense of urgency around STEM — now magnified by the veto of STEM Pipeline Fund —  exists in the state’s business community and efforts are bubbling up to harness this urgency. It is a key part of the High Tech Council’s education agenda as well as that of Leaders for Education, a CEO-level group of education reformers. The Massachusetts Business Roundtable will be convening a coalition of business associations, including the council, to propose a unified STEM agenda for employers.

The model is Tapping America’s Potential, a national report of more than a dozen top trade associations that outlines a strategy for doubling the number of U.S. STEM college graduates by 2015. A vocal, unified effort of the state’s top technology and business groups would send a strong signal to Beacon Hill that STEM is a priority.

Massachusetts’ greatest economic advantage is its pool of skilled workers, who help foster critical advancements in our labs, clean rooms and fabrication facilities. But unless all of the technology stakeholders come together and force STEM education to the top policy priority, we will lose that advantage — and our global technology leadership position.

Christopher R. Anderson is president of the Waltham-based Massachusetts High Technology Council and former chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Education.