As schools get back into session and teachers prepare to go back, many stories are popping up in the news about science and STEM education across the United States. The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) follows these stories and gets involved through our journals, conferences, and professional development programs. This week the stories I found to be the most interesting to science teachers are:\

• In Colorado, Denver schools are preparing to spend more than $7 million on new high school STEM career classes that include manufacturing, pre-engineering, health biotechnology, and game-design coding. Read more from the
  Denver Post.
• A prominent and outspoken South Carolina state legislator is once again proposing that high school biology teachers teach alternatives to evolution. Forbes tells you why it’s happening again.
• Teachers in Delaware prepare for the Next Generation Science Standards
• The Michigan State Board of Education has adopted a policy that gives students the chance to opt out of animal dissection.
• In Missouri, a proposal that could change teacher tenure and tie teacher evaluations to student performance will be on the ballot this fall.

Jodi Peterson is the Assistant Executive Director, Communication, Legislative & Public Affairs for the National Science Teachers Association and the Chair of the STEM Education Coalition. Reach her at jpeterson@nsta.org or follow her on Twitter @STEMedadvocate.