Work to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, otherwise known as No Child Left Behind, is moving quickly in both the Senate and the House. A Senate draft discussion is being circulated and a bill is expected to be introduced shortly. In the U. S. House of Representatives, we anticipate introduction of a Republican bill (version passed by House in 2013) soon, with markup to follow.

It has taken many years for Congress to reauthorize this law, and the efforts in the Senate seem promising. But instead of being a priority in federal education policy, STEM is becoming lost.

Educators are urged to contact their members of Congress immediately, and ask them to make STEM education a national priority. At the Legislative Action Center of the STEM Education Coalition website, you can send a letter to your elected representatives, which asks them to

• Maintain a strong focus on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education.
• Continue the focus on math and science as required elements of any state’s accountability system.
• Provide states with dedicated funding to support STEM-related activities and teacher training.

We need your help getting this message heard and to get as much support as possible for science and STEM education. Please take a moment to write to your elected officials, and send this message to your networks.

Read background on this, find out what happened at the Senate hearing last week on teaching and learning, and get insight from Senator Alexander on No Child Left Behind.

Questions? e-mail me at jpeterson@nsta.org.

Jodi Peterson is Assistant Executive Director of Legislative Affairs for the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and Chair of the STEM Education Coalition. e-mail Jodi at jpeterson@nsta.org; follower her on Twitter at @stemedadvocate.

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

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