$500 million for teachers
Image from Flickr.
I think a lot of my fellow Americans would agree that we can be a bit cocky at times. It’s funny, though, because the U.S. lags so far behind other countries when it comes to health care and education. Plus we are in so much debt, I don’t think any amount of credit repair could help us. Also, I have known ever since I can remember that all kinds of tests have shown that American students lag behind those in many other countries when it comes to academics.
Well, the White House has decided to do something about that. The government will spend $250 million, which will be matched by private funding to bring the total to $500 million, to prepare and train 10,000 new math and science teachers, according to the Washington Post.
What will the money do?
The Post says that the U.S. federal government is spending this money on mat and science education “aiming to help the nation compete in key fields with global economic rivals.” Perhaps so we Americans will stop buying all of our cars and electronics from Japan and China? From the Washington Post:
With funding from high-tech businesses, universities and foundations, the initiative seeks to prepare more than 10,000 new math and science schoolteachers over five years and provide on-the-job training for an additional 100,000 in science, technology, engineering and math.
Though the government funding for this project is going toward a very good and much-needed cause, it’s a whole lot of money during a time when the government has been spending, spending, spending. I am sure we can expect to hear a whole lot of squawking about how much it costs and how much money the government is throwing around. What do you think? Is spending $250 million in government funds for math and science teachers worth it?
