Science education, research need a boost from U.S.

Chad Holliday Jr.

and Graham B. Spanier

are science education

and research advocates

If proof is needed that it's easier to talk the talk than walk the walk, look no further than our federal government's support for U.S. competitiveness in the global economy.

In his State of the Union address two years ago, President Bush announced the American Competitiveness Initiative "to encourage innovation throughout our economy, and to give our nation's children a firm grounding in math and science."

Upon passage last year of landmark legislation authorizing increased funding for math and science education and scientific research, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said the bill would "launch new, thriving industries that will produce millions of good jobs here at home and a better future for the next generation." Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) noted that other countries "see by investing in science and technology and in the education of their citizens, they can attract jobs and create wealth. We must make the same investment in our future."

However, when political push came to budgetary shove, all these words of support turned out to be hollow. The $555 billion government spending bill signed into law by the president in December left science out in the cold.

Those of us from the nation's private sector and higher education have long advocated a renewed commitment to funding scientific research. The Council on Competitiveness and its membership of 150 CEOs, university presidents and labor leaders recently issued its Five for the Future competitiveness agenda, which highlighted science and technology as a keystone to long-term U.S. economic success. This call to action cites leadership at the frontier of science and technology as a competitive advantage, particularly to those poised to rapidly translate new knowledge and insight into high-value products and services.

Americans have prospered for more than two centuries because we are explorers and seekers of new knowledge. Science is the bedrock upon which U.S. economic growth has rested since the nation's leadership responded to the 1957 launch of Sputnik with a substantial investment in research and education. Federally supported basic research was the basis for an extraordinary array of technological advances, from the Internet and global positioning systems to MRIs and MP3 players. New investments are likely to produce the next-generation Internet, alternative energy sources, and inventions we can now barely imagine.

Moreover, in the U.S. system, the training of the next generation of scientists is a critical byproduct of this research. And improving science and math education at all levels can ensure that a generation of Americans has the skills to compete and flourish amid globalization rather than pine for jobs that are not coming back.

Realizing that the government's commitment to science had become seriously weakened, the president and congressional leaders promised early in 2007 to double key research budgets, making long-term investments that could produce extraordinary breakthroughs.

However, when December came, science funding was clearly expendable, despite the enthusiastic support of clear majorities in both parties for the increases. One can only conclude that what is lacking is a sense of commitment, resolve and passion across the federal government that the investments we make in science today will create the opportunity for a better life for every American.

Working with coalitions of scientific organizations, businesses, colleges and universities, and labor organizations, we will continue to reach out to the current administration and Congress, but we also are looking to the presidential candidates. The next president - Democrat or Republican - will be able to shape an agenda that either supports or subverts science, technology and innovation.

In partnership with our organizations and others, the American Association for the Advancement of Science has launched a new Web site - Science and Technology in the 2008 Presidential Election (

» READ MORE: http://election

2008.aaas.org) - that will serve as a clearinghouse for presidential position statements and analysis on science and technology. Another effort is under way to stage a presidential debate on these issues (

» READ MORE: www.science

debate2008.com). Placing candidates' positions on science and technology into the public purview is an important first step toward cementing science into the platform of the next president. If we ask the right questions of the candidates now, we are less likely to have to ask what went wrong in the future.