H.R. 4973House113th Congress (2013-2015)In Committee

STEM for STEM Act

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2 earlier actions

HouseCommittee Latest Action

Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.

Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee

November 17, 2014

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HouseIntro Referral

Introduced in House

June 25, 2014

HouseIntro Referral

Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Education and Workforce Committee

June 25, 2014

HouseCommittee

Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.

Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee

November 17, 2014

Floor Debate

1 member

What members said about H.R. 4973 on the floor

1 Republican

Rep. Stevan PearceR-NM-2 · Jul 30, 2014

Mr. Speaker, every country must deal with and answer the question: What does it take to be prosperous and to have prosperity for future generations? There are many answers to that question, but one…

Mr. Speaker, every country must deal with and answer the

question: What does it take to be prosperous and to have prosperity for future generations?

There are many answers to that question, but one of the keys is science, technology, engineering, and math--the STEM fields--in our educational system.

The United States needs to be able to compete in these fields on a global scale, and children of all schools should have the opportunity to develop these skills no matter where they live.

Recently, teachers in the Second District of New Mexico brought up the question: What about us? Can we use funds that are set over here in the Education Department to develop better skills in the STEM areas?

Those questions were not answered in a completely positive way--that maybe it was not possible. Therefore, the teachers put forward an idea that maybe we should just get the flexibility in, a practical suggestion for an important concept.

Teachers and educators in the Second District provided firsthand experience and developed the idea into a concept. Several teachers formed an ad hoc working group. Brian Claar from White Sands Schools, Lindsey Guerrero and Marci Hearn from Gadsden Independent School District, Marci Behrens from Las Cruces Public School District, as well as Susan Brown, Nicole Delgado, and Christina Abeyta from the New Mexico State University STEM Outreach Center, all came together and developed that concept into a proposed legislation.

Working with my staff, they actually got the bill written, and on June 25 of this year, I introduced H.R. 4973, titled: Spurring Teacher Education Movement for STEM Act, also known as the STEM for STEM Act.

H.R. 4973 increases flexibility for teacher development funds under the Rural and Low Income title of the Elementary and Secondary School Act of 1965. It allows the funds to be used for teacher development in teaching STEM.

The STEM for STEM Act also expresses the need for the U.S. to compete on a global scale. A teacher should have the high-quality professional development opportunities in STEM to increase their content knowledge and improve student learning.

Professional development is essential for providing teachers and educators with growth opportunities that then are presented to our children.

Teacher professional development enriches the learning environment for students and educators alike. It is important for us to say thank you to those teachers who make it possible for America to compete into the next generation.

Hopefully, this bill, H.R. 4973, will provide a small element of help for the rural areas that stretch across the Western part of this country.

Bill Text

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Introduced in HouseIssued June 25, 2014

113th CONGRESS

2d Session

H. R. 4973

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 25, 2014

Mr. Pearce introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

A BILL

To amend the rural and low-income program under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to include professional development in STEM education, and for other purposes.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Spurring Teacher Education Movement for STEM Act or the STEM for STEM Act.

Findings; Sense of Congress

(a)

Findings

Congress finds the following:

(1)

The National Center for Education Statistics found that high school students from 29 nations performed better in math than high school students from the United States.

(2)

High school students from 22 nations performed better in science than high school students from the United States.

(b)

Sense of Congress

It is the sense of Congress that—

(1)

the United States should be at the forefront of education for science, technology, engineering, and math (in this section referred to as STEM);

(2)

students in low income and rural areas have limited access to STEM resources;

(3)

teachers should have high-quality professional development opportunities in STEM to increase their content knowledge and improve student learning; and

(4)

teacher professional development should provide strategies for integrating STEM education across all demographics.

Uses of funds for rural and low-income school program

Section 6222(a)(2) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7351a(a)(2)) is amended—

(1)

by striking and to and inserting , to; and

(2)

by adding before the period at the end the following: , and to train teachers in the area of science, technology, engineering, and math education.