$ 3.1 Billion to S.T.E.M. Education

As part of the government’s goal of preparing students for a STEM-based economy, the Obama administration has committed $3.1 billion to improve STEM education nationwide. Roughly $450 million will be directed toward boosting the number of trained educators and developing new programs aimed at getting students interested in career fields in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

In his State of The Union address, President Obama stressed the need to focus American education on STEM fields in order to make the nation globally competitive.
“Let’s also make sure that a high school diploma puts our kids on a path to a good job.  Right now, countries like Germany focus on graduating their high school students with the equivalent of a technical degree from one of our community colleges, so that they’re ready for a job.  At schools like P-Tech in Brooklyn, a collaboration between New York Public Schools, the City University of New York, and IBM, students will graduate with a high school diploma and an associate degree in computers or engineering,” he said.

Career and Technical Education: Five Ways that Pay Along the Way to a B.A.

There are 29 million jobs that pay middle-class wages (between $35,000 and $75,000 annually). Nearly 40 percent pay more than $50,000 a year, according to the new study released jointly by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce and Civic Enterprises.

There are five pathways that provide career and technical training that lead to these jobs.The study examines each of these five CTE pathways in major detail:

2014 Education Budget to Reform K12 through STEM / Redesign HS Experience

The Obama Administration continued to prioritize education in the 2014 budget released today by proposing key investments in education that would strengthen the middle class, grow the economy and provide opportunities for success to all Americans – especially our nation's most vulnerable children. Without adding to the deficit, the President’s FY 2014 budget invests $71 billion in discretionary funding for the Department, an increase of 4.5 percent over the FY 2013 pre-sequester level.

"We must continue to build on the reforms already transforming classrooms across the country," said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. "Strategic investments in our educational system will not only provide more opportunities for millions of Americans, but they will strengthen our nation's workforce as well.”

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