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Suddenly, Trump wants to spend millions of dollars on STEM in public schools [View all]
Source: Washington Post
Suddenly, Trump wants to spend millions of dollars on STEM in public schools
By Valerie Strauss September 25 at 6:19 PM
During the 2016 presidential campaign, it was Hillary Clinton who talked about spending federal money to provide more STEM education — especially computer science classes for all students. Donald Trump wasn’t much interested then — and his proposed fiscal 2018 budget didn’t spread much love in that direction either. It zeroed out one of the Education Department’s main programs that could be used for such a purpose, and it eliminated funding for NASA’s education office (which, among other things, oversees efforts to support women and underrepresented minorities in STEM fields).
Now, he’s changed his mind.
The White House issued a memorandum Monday (see text below) directing the Education Department to spend $200 million a year on grants that promote science, technology, engineering and math education, and “particularly computer science.” It noted that only 18 percent of high schools accredited to teach Advanced Placement had computer science classes, and that minorities, students in rural communities and girls are less represented in computer science education than other students.
It isn’t clear where the money is supposed to come from; the memo doesn’t say.
The push for improving STEM education, especially for girls, has been a priority of Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and adviser, who has appeared at several events with Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to promote it.
-snip-
By Valerie Strauss September 25 at 6:19 PM
During the 2016 presidential campaign, it was Hillary Clinton who talked about spending federal money to provide more STEM education — especially computer science classes for all students. Donald Trump wasn’t much interested then — and his proposed fiscal 2018 budget didn’t spread much love in that direction either. It zeroed out one of the Education Department’s main programs that could be used for such a purpose, and it eliminated funding for NASA’s education office (which, among other things, oversees efforts to support women and underrepresented minorities in STEM fields).
Now, he’s changed his mind.
The White House issued a memorandum Monday (see text below) directing the Education Department to spend $200 million a year on grants that promote science, technology, engineering and math education, and “particularly computer science.” It noted that only 18 percent of high schools accredited to teach Advanced Placement had computer science classes, and that minorities, students in rural communities and girls are less represented in computer science education than other students.
It isn’t clear where the money is supposed to come from; the memo doesn’t say.
The push for improving STEM education, especially for girls, has been a priority of Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and adviser, who has appeared at several events with Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to promote it.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/09/25/suddenly-trump-wants-to-spend-millions-of-dollars-on-stem-in-public-schools/
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