President Bush yesterday urged junior high school students to pursue math and science saying “the future is engineering and physics and chemistry and math”.
Driven by concern that America was losing its technological edge in the global market, Bush is currently on a campaign across the country visiting schools and urging them to prepare the grounds for tomorrow's technology leaders.
At most of the schools he visited, he expressed his amazement for the technological changes that have taken place over the last twenty five years. He mentions that on his recent visit to Brazil he was fascinated by cars that ran on fuel made from sugar.
At a minority magnet school in Dallas, he visited the laboratory and peered over microscopes with some of the students. He said he was impressed by the school's emphasis on math and science.
His itinerary includes technology companies like Intel. The President visited the chip maker's facility in Albuquerque in Rio Rancho. While talking to the engineers here, he lamented about America's junior high school education. He pointed out that upto fourth grade the teaching standards are fine. It's junior high where “we're doing lousy”.
Bush also called on Congress to boost funding for math and science education and to encourage and nurture innovation at laboratories whether they are government or private.
The efforts are part of the American Competitive Initiative that he announced Tuesday. He was prompted into starting the campaign after an October report by the National Academics committee titled 'Rising Above the Gathering Storm', which talked about erosion in the US' global competitive advantage. The report said the situation presented a challenge for the US government and recommended huge boosts in funding for research and science education. Immediately after the report, Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D), Pete V. Domenici (Rep. chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee) and Lamar Alexander met the President urging him to meet the challenge mentioned in the NA committee's report.
At the Intel plant, Bush echoed the report and added that the US could revive a business tax credit to encourage technology companies to develop more innovation. Although Bush has agreed in principle to the 20 recommendations made by the report, he felt a 20 percent tax credit would suffice whereas the report urges for a 40 percent credit.
Bush also said there was a feeling among some sectors that an emerging China and India posed a threat to their global business dominance.
The senators joined hands to introduce the Protecting America's Competitive Edge Act (PACE Act), which urges the government to double the research budgets of the Department of Energy's Office of Science, NASA, Defense Department, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Science Foundation. The report recommends spending $10 billion in the fist year on these agencies' efforts in physical science research.
Bush also said he wanted science and math professionals to associate themselves with schools as adjunct teachers. Another recommendation by the report asked to ease visa requirements and even offer incentives for overseas students who wished to study and stay back to work in the US. Bush was also in favor of increasing the number of visas for science and technology professionals from abroad.
