Friday, July 24, 2009

STEM Educators Day

The following was submitted by "guest blogger" Dave Janosz of the New Jersey Technology Education Association:

July 15, 2009

A number of folks from New Jersey were invited to attend a special event titled “STEM Educators Day” hosted by NJ Representative Rush Holt. The agenda for the day was more than interesting. The speakers included several members of Congress (Holt, McNerny, Honda, Ehlers), the advisor to the House Education and Labor committee, and an advisor to U.S. Secretary of Education, among others.

Much information was shared, which shed light on important initiatives on the federal level at the moment. Here are some things that came up through the course of the day which may be worth some of your attention in the coming days and months:

H.R. 1709 “STEM Education Coordination Act of 2009”
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.1709:

SPEAK Act
http://dodd.senate.gov/index.php?q=node/3699

SMART Grants (student aid)
http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/SmartGrants.jsp

Teacher Incentive Fund
http://www.ed.gov/programs/teacherincentive/index.html

No Child Left Inside Act
http://www.nwf.org/news/story.cfm?pageId=CA3BDF3E-5056-A868-A0A176C5FB74B49E

President Honors Math, Science, Engineering Teachers Mentors
http://ostp.gov/

Race to the Top Initiative of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/implementation.html

What Works and Innovation Fund
http://www.recovery.gov/?q=content/program-plan&program_id=7604

NGA Common Core State Standards Development
http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.6c9a8a9ebc6ae07eee28aca9501010a0/?vgnextoid=60e20e4d3d132210VgnVCM1000005e00100aRCRD


July 16, 2009

NJTEA President Chris Anderson and I attended two meetings with staffers from the offices of our two U.S. Senators, Menendez and Lautenberg. It was relatively easy to contact their offices and set up these meetings. All I had to do was give them a call and let them know I’d be in DC on this particular day and I’d like to meet with someone in the office that normally deals with education policy issues. While there is not much going in the Senate right now relative to STEM education, I do consider the individuals we met with important points of contact if needed in the future.

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