Governor
Timothy M. Kaine announced that
Virginia
joins five other states in receiving a $500,000 grant from the
National Governors Association
Center
for Best Practices (
NGA
Center)
to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in
their states.
Virginia's
application stood out with a proposal to develop Career and Technology (CTE)
centers at the high school and postsecondary level in order to reinforce and
increase
Virginia's
workforce.
"Increasingly,
our workers must strengthen their knowledge in science, technology, engineering
and math to remain competitive in the global economy," Governor Kaine
said. "
Virginia
will use this grant in conjunction with other efforts to encourage a stronger
focus on math, engineering, high-tech and science education among our students,
and a more innovative, skilled workforce."
The
STEM center grants are being awarded as part of NGA Chair Arizona Governor
Janet Napolitano's
Innovation America initiative, which aims to restore
the value of the high school diploma. In addition to
Virginia,
Colorado,
Hawaii,
Minnesota,
Ohio, and
Pennsylvania
will also receive the grants. The six states were chosen from a pool of 24
applicants, with all states and
U.S.
territories invited to apply for the grant. The Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation and the Intel Corporation made these grants possible.
"Governors
recognize the links between a rigorous STEM education program and our
leadership in the global economy," said Raymond C. Scheppach, executive
director of the National Governors Association. "These grants will
strengthen the economic competitiveness of the
United States
by improving our capacity for innovation."
The
increased funding will help states build or expand upon their current STEM
centers in order to ensure that high school graduates are equipped with
science, technology, engineering and math skills. The STEM centers will work to
strengthen this new workforce through:
- Aligning K-12 STEM education
requirements with postsecondary and workplace expectations;
- Improving the quantity and
quality of STEM teachers;
- Benchmarking state K-12 STEM
standards, assessments and curricula to top performing nations in STEM
education achievement and attainment;
- Garnering public support for
change to implement a better aligned system; and
- Identifying best practices in
STEM education and bringing them to scale.
To
learn more about governors' efforts to promote STEM education agendas in their
states, visit
www.nga.org/center/education.
