Durbin Calls for More Resources to Recruit and Retain High Quality Math/Science Teachers

DURBIN CALLS FOR MORE RESOURCES TO RECRUIT AND RETAIN HIGH QUALITY MATH/SCIENCE TEACHERS

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) visited Bradley University today to discuss challenges confronting the United States in keeping America's edge in scientific and technological innovation and his efforts to attract more students to the fields of math, science and technology.

During the State of the Union Address earlier this week, President Bush discussed the need to strengthen students' math and science skills. Durbin said he supports President Bush's focus on math and science education. "Our students need to be prepared for the jobs of the future. It is in our national interest to put highly qualified math and science teachers in our classrooms and give our students every opportunity to excel in those areas," Durbin said.

"The need to strengthen our education pipeline in science and technology is well documented. I've introduced legislation in every Congress since 2001 that would make it easier for students to study math and science. Change is incremental, but we are making a difference."

Durbin said he will continue to push for a series of legislative proposals designed to help recruit the best possible teachers, prepare those teachers to teach well and support those teachers throughout their careers so they stay in the classroom.

"When it comes to providing a high-quality education, individualized attention from well-qualified teachers cannot be underestimated. Small, focused, successful classrooms require a steady supply of good teachers," said Durbin. "We need to take action now to recruit and retain the best possible teachers."

According to the National Education Association, a historic turnover is taking place in the teaching profession. While student enrollments are rising rapidly, more than a million veteran teachers are nearing retirement. Experts predict that overall the U.S. will need more than 2 million new teachers in the next decade.

The teacher recruitment problem is most challenging in high-need subject areas such as math, science, key foreign languages and special education. At the same time, almost a third of our new teachers leave the profession after only three years and about half exit after five years.

Durbin also discussed his plans to continue pushing for legislation that will help maintain a solid base of math and science teachers at the K-12 level, so students are given the proper resources and consistently encouraged to excel in those areas.

"Science and technology are the engines of economic growth. Our economic future depends on the next generation of workers and their ability not just to keep up, but to innovate," said Durbin.

According to U.S. Department of Labor projections, new jobs requiring science, engineering and technical training will increase four times faster than the national job growth rate in coming years. If present trends continue, the U.S. would need 14 million more qualified workers by 2020 than our education system currently produces. Other reports suggest that several countries, particularly in Asia, threaten to outperform the U.S. in areas that have long been America's strengths, and a recent international comparison of math skills among high school students in 40 countries showed that U.S. students fare below the average.

The U.S. graduates some of the world's best engineers, scientists and mathematicians. But China, India, South Korea and Japan are educating a far higher proportion of their people in technologies, sciences and math. Since 1975, about a third of U.S. undergraduate degrees have been in engineering or a hard or social science. In China, 59% of undergraduate degrees are in the sciences. In South Korea, almost half of the college degrees are in a science or engineering.

In the coming months, Durbin will be reintroducing the Homeland Security Education Act, which includes $5,000 scholarships to students pursuing math, science, engineering and technology degrees and scholarships of up to $15,000 to cover the costs of scientists, engineers and technology professionals to return to school and obtain their teaching credentials. In return, they agree teach in a high-need or low-income school for at least five years.

Durbin has also long supported increasing the maximum Pell Grant, which has remained stagnant at $4,050 for the past five years and providing a permanent tax deduction for college tuition. Millions of students and parents struggling to pay for college will be helped by a permanent tuition tax deduction, which allows qualified taxpayers to deduct up to $4,000 in tuition and fees from their taxable income.

Durbin co-chairs of the Senate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Education Caucus, along with U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN). The mission of the bipartisan caucus is to identify creative solutions to help put our country back on the right track and to continue to keep America the innovative and technological leader of the globe.

http://durbin.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=268099&&