Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Representative Young Kim (CA-39) and House Science, Space and Technology Committee Ranking Member Frank Lucas (OK-03) sent a letter to White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Director Arati Prabhakar urging the Biden administration to ensure the Federal science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) Education Strategy prioritizes closing the STEM skills gap, creating a STEM-capable workforce and advancing U.S. competitiveness against China.
The Department of Education recently released the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress Report Card with 4th and 8th-grade mathematics scores recording their largest decrease in decades. More than two million U.S. manufacturing jobs could also go unfilled by 2030 due to the skills gap and retirement.
“The next 5-year Federal STEM Education Strategy is due in 2023, but we’ve seen no updates on its progress. STEM education is vital to unlocking opportunities for students, providing good-paying jobs and boosting global competitiveness,” said Rep. Kim. “Our students are falling behind just as STEM employment demands are projected to grow twice as fast as non-STEM jobs over the next decade. I thank Ranking Member Lucas for working with me to call on the Biden administration to recognize our nation’s education crisis and take action to ensure our country has a strong STEM workforce pipeline that is ready to meet the needs of our future.”
“America can’t stay internationally competitive without a strong STEM workforce, and that starts in the classroom. China is already dramatically outpacing us in educating and graduating STEM professionals and we can’t afford to fall any further behind. The Administration needs to take a comprehensive approach to federal stem education and workforce so we have a robust strategy in place to strengthen our domestic STEM pipeline. Rep. Kim has been a vocal supporter of developing a STEM workforce and supporting STEM jobs, and I appreciate her leadership on this issue,” said Ranking Member Lucas.
Read the letter here.
